


Red XX

by Lathis



Series: Dark Titans [1]
Category: DC Animated Universe (Timmverse), Ranma 1/2, Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Crossover, Crossover Pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:07:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 47,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28082931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lathis/pseuds/Lathis
Summary: Dark Titans is the sequel to The Titans and the Lost Boy.This series of stories follows the ongoing adventures of Heroes and Martial Artists alike, as two very different worlds collide.Red X makes the scene, but something seems different about the irascible anti-hero this time around.  Maybe it's her hair?
Relationships: You know what it gets complicated
Series: Dark Titans [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2057328
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12





	1. Prologue

I don't own Ranma, Titans or DC in general.

Enjoy if you will, Tolerate if you won't.

* * *

The dark figure knelt, melting into the shadows, as he continued to watch his target. The gravel crunched beneath his knee, only the slightest of annoyances. In the distance, the gleaming tower stood proudly, separated from him by the water of the city's famous bay. He had been planning this heist for months, ever since his imagination had been set ablaze by that one news report, oh so long ago.

The prospect of breaking into Titan's Tower itself... it set his whole body to tingling. When he had first heard of his prize, he knew that he had to have it. It had meant weeks of research, of asking witnesses and tearing apart all the drones left behind when Slade was finally defeated, but it had paid off in spades. He had finally discovered **who** had created his latest target, and thus who possessed it and where it was being kept.

Of course, finding out where it was being kept, that was only the tip of the iceberg to this caper. Everyday seemed to bring new complications. For some reason, the Titans had vanished for over three weeks, leaving the tower on Lock-Down. Even with all his skills, there would have been no way for him to break in then, even if his plan had been finished.

Then, after the Titans had returned, they had been dragged into some bizarre turf war with some over-blown super villain. He would never understand those people, why did they insist on making such a mess that they inevitably bring down every hero in the country on their heads? Heck, the Titans had even imported a few foreign models from what he'd seen during his reconnaissance.

He wasn't sure what had happened in the end, not really. He hadn't had any good chances to break in then either. After that big battle that the Titans ran through the city, Raven had put the Tower on Lock-Down again. Then a bunch of strangers arrived to help, making it even less likely for him to break in. Though... they were kind enough to show him the Titan's back door.

Then, of course, the big finale, an entire cathedral vanishing into a glowing green tornado. Kind of hard to miss, that was. Once again, he had no idea what had happened, but it did seem to bring things to a close. After that, the new kids hung around for a few days, then most everyone went on their way. A few days later, the old woman left, which left him with only the two extra stragglers, who didn't seem to have any intention of going anywhere.

Which brought him back to where he was now, kneeling uncomfortably in the gravel of a rooftop, patiently staking out the Titan's Tower. But he was a patient guy, it came with the profession after all. He knew they were feeling very secure lately. There hadn't been any major crime to speak of since their little hissy fit rained church over three city blocks. He also knew it was only a matter of time before they left the Tower relatively unguarded. Four of the Titans, and their new Asian member still went out on patrol, leaving only an injured Raven and that harmless seeming young woman behind.

He chuckled slightly to himself... he was quite sure that he could handle **those** odds. Yes, he didn't know why, but he felt that tonight was the night. He had been watching them for a solid week now, since everyone had vanished, it was only a matter of time-

There! He pulled up his binoculars and quickly zoomed in on the tower. There, in the main living room, he could see the red lights strobing, obviously signaling some emergency or another. An instant later, he was over the edge of the roof, sliding down the rope he had positioned there days ago, for this very moment. He was only a short five-minute sprint to the secret entrance of the Titan's base, the very reason that he had chosen that particular building in the first place.

He didn't dare wait to see the Titan's leave, he knew that he would need every second to get through the tunnel and bypass the tower's security. Luckily, he knew Robin was already out of the Tower, as was the Asian boy; though he had no idea where either of them was.

As soon as his feet hit the ground, he was off running. He leapt nimbly from the fire hydrant, up to the streetlight with practiced ease. He then ran down the length of the lamp and jumped for all he was worth, nearly clearing the four lanes of traffic that separated him from the underbrush that surrounded the secret door.

Just as he was about to be flattened by an oncoming transport truck, he threw out his grappling hook, catching the streetlight before him, and swinging the rest of the way across the road and through the air. He released the rope at the apex of his leap and let his momentum carry him another thirty feet to his goal. He rolled expertly with his landing, absorbing the impact of his short flight, and came up running.

A smile wormed its way onto his face, as he continued to sprint to his destination. He was easily beating the times he had achieved in his test runs. Must be the extra adrenaline of knowing this was **it**.

Finally, his goal was in sight. He skidded to a stop, slamming heavily into the titanium door, even as he slid the probe from his hacking computer into the doors lock. A few quick number sequences and a quiet hiss indicated his success. He quickly slid his hand into the manual override panel and pulled hard on the lever, forcing the heavy hatch open several inches. It was enough for him to slide his fingers in and pry the door open.

Feeling a bit heady from his minor successes, he nearly flew into the tunnel. He waited only long enough for the lights to come on, before he started down the stairs, taking them four at a time in his haste. He completely ignored the dank, dingy look of the tunnel. The buzzing fluorescent lights, the ominously dripping water, the oppressive smell of stale air and mildew, none of it registered. The only sound that mattered to him, was the rapid patter of his feet, and the occasional splash, as he sprinted down the corridor.

He controlled his breathing as best as he could, he knew it was at least a twenty-minute trek at his current speed, judging by the distance he had estimated between the tower and the door he had entered. It was a hard run, but he had trained for it everyday for the past few weeks, he knew he could do it.

The time seemed to fly by, and soon his run across the bottom of the bay became an uphill jog as he came up to the base of the tower. Just as quickly, he pulled out his security computer and hacked the dull titanium hatch that hung above his head at the top of the staircase. As soon as the tell-tale hiss of the locks disengaging was heard, he heaved the hatch open and tossed a sphere from his belt up into the room above him.

A second later, a dull boom echoed down through the hatch and on into the endless tunnel below him. He leapt up quickly, just as the silver chaff began to float down to the floor all around him. His vision was limited slightly, but he saw the lasers extend out from the walls and begin to slide around aimlessly, unable to lock onto him with the chaff in the air.

He smiled widely at that; sometimes completely automating your security just didn't pay off. He hit the massive door that sealed off this chamber and quickly pulled a tube from his belt. This door didn't have anything to hack, as the plans he had stolen indicated. Instead, he started applying the experimental thermite paste in a long strip around the entire door.

The chaff was starting to thin out already, he could hear the lasers start to slow in their frantic searches, likely in his direction. With a flick of his wrist, he ignited the highly volatile putty and dove to the side. A second later, the entire room was filled with a blinding light and the sound of a thousand sparklers all being lit at the same time. A few moments later and the door slid out and crashed to the ground on the far side of the entrance.

He sprang to his feet and bolted through the molten hole, not even waiting for the glowing white metal to cool. Not a second too soon, as a laser blazed to life and fired one poorly angled shot through the hole, nearly taking his foot off at the ankle. He easily cleared the smoking remains of the door as its molten edges melted into the floor.

Once again, he hit the ground running, this entire level only consisted of the room he had just exited, a short corridor, and the elevator door which loomed before him. He smiled again, pulling out one of the lasers he had taken from one of the numerous drones that had belonged to Slade. This would be one of the few doors it would work on. A few swipes of his arm and the elevator door fell to pieces, revealing an empty shaft beyond it.

Ironically, for security reasons, the target of his search was being held in the third subbasement, only two levels above him. He didn't even need his, already discarded, grappling hook, simply jumping from wall to wall until he reached the door to that level. Again, the laser made short work of the elevator door. Without a second though, he tossed the laser down the shaft behind him and dove through the cleanly sliced hole.

The corridor before him was pitch black, but that was a minor inconvenience, as he pulled out an ultraviolet lamp and slipped on his specially treated goggles. Soon enough, the corridor lit up before him. With that, he placed the powerful lamp on the ground and carefully aimed it down the hallway, before taking in his surroundings. It was another very nondescript level, only a simple corridor and his target lying at the end of the fifty-foot hallway.

A massive vault door built into the wall, and nearly taking up the entire end of the passage. He smiled again, his breath coming in excited gasps as he finally saw his quarry. This time he pulled a small canister from his belt and began spraying a fine mist into the air before him, letting it fill the entire corridor. As the mist spread out, it revealed an innumerable number of lasers criss-crossing the entire corridor between him and the vault at the other end of the corridor.

Taking a deep breath to calm his excited nerves, he carefully took a step back towards the elevator and considered the positions of the lasers. He took another deep breath, closing his eyes and trying to find his center.

Then he was running! He ran very nearly into the first set of beams, before springing over and through the lasers. In an amazing display of acrobatic prowess, he ducked, weaved, leapt, and tumbled through the countless laser wires. He pushed himself to his limit, somersaulting through the beams, rolling under them, nearly running up the walls when he needed to.

Finally – finally, his feet touched the ground, only five feet separating him and the large titanium alloy door of the vault. The only thing between him and that was a fine grid of lasers, hovering only inches in front of the door. There was no way to squeeze between that, since the lasers were only positioned about four inches apart, running up both walls and across the floor and ceiling. And even if he could, opening the door would also set off the lasers.

Not that he was worried about tripping the alarm; he had likely already done **that** when he blew the door downstairs. No, he just didn't want to have likely twenty automated lasers popping out of the walls again before he even had a chance to open the door.

So, just as he had planned, he pulled out the tiny reflective discs which he had prepared for just this occasion. It took him a good five minutes, positioning the tiny discs with excruciating precision to divert the lasers, but eventually all the beams were safely disabled.

A loud sigh escaped his lips, and he wiped the building perspiration from his brow. Again, he pulled out his small security device and interfaced it with the computer lock that protected the vault. He tampered with the small device for several minutes, before tearing out the cord and jamming the device harshly back into his belt. As he had suspected, his hacking skills weren't nearly up to the task of opening this vault.

Luckily, he had anticipated this, and he removed the pack he had been wearing on his back. Explosives wouldn't work here, not in a tunnel this small with him standing three feet away, nor would the thermite paste cut through something so thick. However, he had acquired a nifty device from a young tech head that went by the name of Gizmo that would do just the job.

He opened the pack and pulled out the large, round device. It was about a foot in diameter and a dull matte gray color. One half was smooth while the other was a shallow dome, making the machine roughly five inches thick at its center. Carefully, he placed the flat surface of the device on the very center of the vault door and pushed the large button that took up the center of the domed surface.

As soon as he pressed the button, several yellowish lights lit up on the device and it began to hum loudly. Instantly, it attached itself to the metal door with a metallic clang, as an obviously immensely powerful magnet flared to life in the machine. Thankfully, Gizmo had explained how the device worked, which was why he had tossed the laser away earlier. Considering just how powerful this magnet was, he wouldn't have wanted to have **any** metal on him by this point.

A second later and six metallic arms shot out of the device and extended out several feet. The arms then slammed into the wall that surrounded the massive door and began to **push**! The entire machine began to whine angrily as the arms strained against the reinforced titanium of the vault door.

He had been skeptical at first, when Gizmo had shown him the device; that something so flimsy looking could tear open a safe...

The machines unearthly whine continued to increase in pitch, only to be joined by the deep groan of the heavy door fighting against the impossible strength of the comparatively tiny device. The wall around the door began to crack and crumble as the legs began to sink into the building itself.

Starting to feel a bit nervous, as the whine of the machine and the groan of the warping safe door began to ring through his ears, he slid back as close to the lasers as he could, trying to put some distance between him and the looming disaster area.

Then, just when he thought the small machine was going to give itself a hernia trying to tear open the safe, a squeal of metal shredding sent his teeth to grind and his hands flying to cover his ears. It took him a few seconds to regain his senses after the assault on his hearing. Finally, after shaking his head a few times, he looked up to see the machines handiwork.

The poor device, it was sparking and smoking, obviously it had killed itself in the attempt, but the vault door was open, only a few inches maybe, but all the heavy bolts that had held it closed were snapped cleanly off and there was still enough of the hinges left intact that he could slide the door open.

A manic smile formed on his face now. Finally! After all his planning and plotting, after all this time and effort...

The Red X suit would be his!

Just barely retaining enough sense to be wary of the lasers that hung perilously close to him in every direction, he slid forward and pried to door open with all his strength. He had to leap to the side quickly, when after opening a foot, the weakened metal of the hinges gave way and the whole door collapsed to the floor beside him, a massive clang ringing through the entire corridor.

He chuckled happily; not even being nearly crushed at the last moment could dampen his spirit now, not when his new suit was finally in his grasp. With a small laugh, he leapt up onto the door and pulled out a chemical glow stick. He snapped the small stick and shook it eagerly. A few seconds later, the dull green glow of the small device finally revealed the end of his long search, the interior of the safe which housed the dangerous and experimental Red X suit...

Was **empty**!

The glow stick dropped from nerveless fingers, as he stared in disbelief at the empty vault before him. All his planning, all his work, his training runs, all the money he had paid out for the gadgets to get this far...

"W-where is it?"

He didn't even notice the glow stick hit the vault door, bounce several times, then gently roll towards the floor at the base of the wall. However, he did notice when it bumped into one of the many carefully placed reflector discs that he had positioned around the large door.

A second later, his reverie was interrupted by the blaring klaxons and the metallic clanking sound of around twenty or so lasers sliding out of the walls behind him. He turned to face the angrily glowing weapons, a look of panic spreading across his normally carefree features.

"Oh... hell..."


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own Ranma, Titans or DC in general.

Enjoy if you will, Tolerate if you won't.

* * *

Ryouga leaned back, trying to get comfortable while he gazed at his lone companion. She stared back at him impassively, as she had done for all the time he had spent with her over the past week. At this point, he was just willing her to say something to him, to tell him something, anything. But no... she wasn't in the mood to talk to him yet, nor would she be for the foreseeable future.

No, Terra was just not a great conversationalist... not that he could blame her, what with being a statue and all.

Frankly, he wasn't even sure what he was doing here anymore. He had been sitting here for a week straight, and he still wasn't any closer to figuring out what the heck Cologne had meant when she said that Terra here contained some great, world-altering secret. He hadn't been able to figure out what she had done to Terra yet either. She had done it so fast and it had been so subtle, that he had missed it completely. He was fairly sure it had something to do with the Bakusai Tenketsu, but that was about it.

Well... there was one reason that he knew he was still here. He was still here, everyday, almost all day in some cases; trying everything in his power to help Terra, because he knew how much it meant to Beast Boy. He shook his head slightly; he could sympathize with the boy, losing a girl that he cared for so much in such a way. He knew that if anyone said they could help him find Jinx, he would do **anything** they asked, no matter what the cost.

"Heh, and I thought **I** had seen hell because of Ranma. I'm not sure I can even imagine what you must be going through now, because of that Slade person," he whispered silently.

Gingerly, he rose to his feet and moved closer to Terra, carefully examining her left hand for, perhaps, the hundredth time. Yes, this was pretty much what had gotten everything started a week ago, the very same night of Cologne's departure.

It was extremely hard to discern, even under close scrutiny, but it seemed as obvious as the sun to him now, just as it had to Beast Boy then...

A tiny spider web of cracks that had somehow spread to encompass her delicate fingers.

* * *

\--One Week Earlier--

The Lost Boy leaned against the counter, a bittersweet smile on his face as he shared a cup of tea with Kasumi. It had been several hours since they had dropped Cologne off at the airport and left Beast Boy with Terra back in the cavern, yet neither of them could bring themselves to sleep yet. He wasn't sure about his companion, but he was filled with a kind of nervous energy himself.

The prospect of starting a new life was as terrifying as it was exciting. Certainly, he was used to seeing new and unusual things daily in his travels, but the point of his travels had always been the same; to find Ranma to punish him, or to find Akane and try to express his feelings, ineffectually, yet again. But now, now that was in the past and he was trying to forge a new path for himself. For the first time, true uncertainty about what he was going to do with his life ran through his mind.

Combine that with Cologne's departure, one less tie to his past; as well as the tragic story that Beast Boy had told him only hours ago about Terra's life... So many anxieties were building up, and that didn't even bring into consideration the situation between Raven and him, or the lingering question in his mind as to the fate of his lost Jinx.

Frankly, he wasn't sure how he was going to sleep for the next week, considering all the things running through his mind at a hundred kilometers per hour. His musings were derailed, as he felt a soft hand grasp his own. He looked up into the gentle eyes of Kasumi, as she stared at him with a world of compassion in her gaze.

"You really need to relax, Ryouga. You look tense enough to bend steel." A quiet giggle escaped her lips at that. "This is supposed to be our chance to start new lives, and you look like you’re expecting the sky to start falling."

He smiled slightly at that, just enough for a fang to peek over his lip. He lowered his free hand to cover hers and squeezed gently, incredibly careful not to hurt her. Looking at the smiling young woman before him, he suddenly felt a bit silly.

"I'm sorry, you're right of course.” He chuckled weakly. “It's kind of ironic, isn't it? Me, the one whose life was a constant stream of pain and disappointment, am afraid to leave my old life behind. And you, who had a happy life, a wonderful home, and a loving family, you're excited and happy to be here. It's a bit ridiculous, isn't it?"

She frowned at his words and squeezed his hand again. "Not at all, Ryouga. It's perfectly understandable that you would be worried about this, but I know that you're brave enough to face what's coming, even if you don't have any idea what it might be." Her smile returned once more, lighting up the room a bit. "That's part of the reason that I'm so calm now, because I know that you'll be here to help me, no matter what."

He – he didn't know what to say to that. He felt his chest tighten at her words, the only other person that had ever said anything like that to him, that had ever put that kind of faith in him, had been Jinx...

He was saved from trying to find a suitable response, when the elevator slid open and a rather bedraggled looking Robin stumbled out into room not too far from where they were sitting. The slightly younger teen looked around somewhat sleepily for a moment, before his eye mask covered eyes finally settled upon the pair of them.

"Oh my! Are you all right, Robin?" The concerned Tendo woman quickly rose from her stool and moved to fuss over the young hero.

Ryouga chuckled to himself in amusement as he watched Robin weakly try to ward off the lovely brunette's caring ministrations. The boy looked a bit rough, but it was obvious that he wasn't seriously injured in any way. But then, what could you expect after going a few rounds with Happosai? Not even Ranma could escape those fights without having at least a few feathers ruffled. He was only glad that Robin's persistence hadn't gotten the old master angry yet.

"Okay, okay, that's enough. I'm fine, Kasumi, I promise. I t's just a few bumps and bruises," assured the young bird. After ineffectually waving his hands a bit to shoo the young medico in training away, Robin shuffled over and pulled up a stool to sit with them. Almost immediately, Kasumi glided over and poured him a cup of tea.

The masked boy then looked his way, glaring weakly and pointing his stirring spoon at him accusingly. "And why is it again, that you aren't out there helping me to take that old goat down?"

The fanged boy shrugged and smiled helplessly. "I think it has something to do with your stubborn, martial artist's pride, the fact that Cologne told me not to interfere with your "training", and the fact that even if everyone in this tower teamed up to take him down, all we would do is make him angry? Does that sound about right to you?" he asked, enjoying himself more than he needed to.

Robin groaned, before nodding. "Yeah, that sounds about right… So, what are you two still doing up anyway? It's nearly morning, you know?"

Ryouga looked to the clock in surprise, he hadn't realized that much time had passed. "Heh, I guess I lost track of time. It's hard to sleep with so much stuff running through my head, it's a little distracting."

Robin nodded in understanding, only to wince at the minor gesture. This, of course, brought on another set of concerned examinations by Kasumi, which the boy fended off once again. The exasperated expression on Robin's face, and the impish smile on Kasumi's, was enough to make the Lost Boy chuckle yet again.

After finally sitting his would-be savior back on her stool, Robin dropped back onto his own seat and took a sip of his tea. "I can understand how this can all be a bit overwhelming. A lot of harsh things have happened to both of you lately, most of them beyond your control. But I want you to know that we'll do everything we can to help you adjust. Both of you have friends here, never forget that."

Kasumi smiled sweetly at his words. She then ran a delicate hand through the boy's spiky hair, reminding Ryouga very much of a mother at that moment. "That's sweet of you, Robin. I'm certain that we'll settle in fine, with so many caring people here to help us." For just a moment, Robin leaned into her hand, his eyes closing blissfully, but it ended just as quickly, when the boy seemed to remember where he was.

Since he didn't want to embarrass the guy, and he wanted to add his own two cents in, he spoke up. "Yeah, I'm sure we'll be able to pull our own weight around here. If Kasumi learns how to fix everyone up, she'll be a great help. And I can train you and Starfire when we're not out fighting criminals."

Robin chuckled at that. "That would be a good help. I'm not sure how much I'd consider chasing the old man around to be "training". It should be interesting to see how the combat training goes now that we have someone like you around."

Kasumi nodded to herself, seeming to come to some conclusion. "I think that I should continue my training as well, Ryouga. I don't want to be a burden if anything happens here at the tower. If it's not too much trouble that is," she asked, an imperceptibly timid tone in her voice.

This seemed to surprise the vigilante with them, for some reason. He turned to peer at Kasumi a bit owlishly. "But, Kasumi, I thought you said you weren't a martial artist?"

"Oh my, no. I haven't trained seriously for a long, long time," responded the older girl.

Ryouga decided to explain that a bit, before Robin got too confused. "Kasumi hasn't trained in her family's school, but the Hive Academy had mandatory combat classes. Heh, I was teaching a few of them after a bit. Kasumi might not have been in the Advanced Evil and Anarchy course with me, but she didn't have any trouble with the rest of the curriculum." He blushed slightly, as Kasumi looked his way, smiling widely at his support.

A sudden thought struck the Lost Boy. Hmm, yeah, it had potential. He looked to Robin, a sly look forming on his features. "You know, I was planning on focusing more of my time getting Starfire up to your level, since you **are** getting the added workout of training with Happosai. Maybe it would be a good idea if **you** took on most of Kasumi's training. That way, I can focus on you and Starfire with more advanced lessons and you can train her how you see fit?" he suggested happily.

His two companions considered his suggestion for a moment, both seeming to warm up to the idea quickly. Robin looked about ready to make a comment, raising a finger and opening his mouth, when suddenly all their communicators started beeping at the same time.

"Hmm, that's odd. Who else is awake to be contacting us on the communicators?" mused their, as odd as it sounded, leader.

Curious, they all opened their communicators to see who it w-

" **AAAAIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!"**

The high-pitched wail pierced their ears so suddenly that Kasumi dropped her communicator in shock. Ryouga nearly crushed his, which would have really ticked him off. The only one that seemed to keep his bearings, was the Boy Wonder. He instantly determined who it was and replied harshly.

"Beast Boy! What's wrong? Are you in trouble?"

Ryouga finally regained enough of his senses to look at the tiny view screen on his own communicator. The small device revealed Beast Boy's tiny face to him, a look of utter anguish on his features. The boy's next words didn't instill him with any more confidence either.

"You guys gotta get down here! It's Terra, there's something wrong with Terra..."

Ryouga felt his heart seize up at the look that covered Beast Boy's face, he never wanted to imagine seeing that much pain on anyone's face again.

"...I think she's dying!"

* * *

Ryouga stood next to Beast Boy, a hand resting on the younger man's shoulder; partly to comfort him, partly to hold him back as the others continued their investigation. The boy hadn't calmed down much, not even when Robin had led Kasumi, him and the other three Titans down into the cavern that housed Terra's statue. Kasumi stood on the boy's other side, holding his hand gently while Starfire was pressed up against Beast Boy's back, her arms wrapped around him in a sympathetic hug. The look on the gentle alien's face was almost as devastated as Beast Boy's.

Ahead of them, clustered around Terra, were Robin, Cyborg and Raven. The largest of the Titan's was scanning her statue with the various sensors housed in his arm. Raven was slowly moving her ebony encased hands over the stone surface, as if searching for something. Robin was looking over Cyborg's shoulder, contemplating the readings as well.

Honestly, Ryouga was feeling a bit useless, watching the three Titans doing all the work while all he could do was watch helplessly. He imagined his companions felt the same as he did, judging by the looks on their faces.

Finally, after a little over ten minutes, Robin, Cyborg and Raven ceased their various scans and moved back to speak to them. The downcast expressions on their faces didn't instill any of them with confidence at that point. Beast Boy broke free from all their reassuring holds and ran forward a few steps to meet them. He then grabbed the masked boy's shoulders and squeezed them tightly.

"Robin, is she okay? What caused her statue to start cracking like that?"

Cyborg quickly grabbed the changeling's shoulder and looked him in the eye. "BB, it's alright man, she's perfectly fine. There are only a few superficial stress fractures on the fingers of her left hand, and they don't seem to go below the surface. I don't know what caused them to appear so suddenly, but they aren't spreading anymore," explained the larger teen in a soothing voice.

Robin gently removed the boy's hands from his shoulders after that. "Aside from those small marks, we can't see anything else that has changed. We also have absolutely no idea what could have caused it either, nothings changed since the last set of tests we've run." The Boy Wonder looked just as frustrated as Ryouga himself felt at that moment. He didn't want to think how bad Beast Boy must have felt, so clouded with uncertainty concerning Terra's welfare.

Raven nodded imperceptibly, gliding forward slightly. "I can't sense any obvious changes either. She doesn't seem to be in any danger of degenerating, but I couldn't find any possible catalyst that could have caused even this minor change," she muttered in a low voice.

The emerald skinned teen seemed to consider her words for a moment, before slamming a fist into his open palm. "It must have something to do with what Granny did before she left! She did some weird thing where she touched Terra, but nothing happened right then." The darker Titan's eyes narrowed at his explanation.

"Cologne, one of the most learned and wise martial artists on the planet, comes here and does something to Terra. Then, only hours later, this starts to happen... And you don't consider the possibility that the two events are connected until **now**?" she asked, disbelief lacing her words.

"Hey, lay off the guy, Rae. BB just saw Terra's statue starting to crumble right in front of him. I'd say he has every right to be freaked out right now." The cybernetic teen glared at the Goth, while squeezing Beast Boy's shoulder reassuringly. He then looked to the younger hero himself. "Of course, it might have saved us all a lot of mental anguish if ya **had** told us that Cologne had somethin to do with this, BB. Granny ain't no fool, I'm sure whatever she did was a step in the right direction... heh, too bad none of us have any idea how to figure out what she did."

Suddenly, Ryouga felt pinned down, as a pair of bird named heroes suddenly slid their gazes his way. Raven looked at him; serious consideration in her expression, while a knowing smirk began to slide onto Robin's lips.

"Maybe none of **us** can figure it out," began Robin.

"But I'm certain that a master of the **Bakusai Tenketsu** might have some ideas on how to proceed," finished Raven, beginning to smirk herself.

The Lost Boy groaned inwardly, as he suddenly found himself on the receiving end of Beast Boy's pitifully hopeful gaze. Yeah, maybe if he was actually a master of the technique, or if he even had any idea of what the old Ghoul had done. Sure, she had said that Terra's statue contained some life-altering secret, but frankly, he couldn't see any more in the statue than Raven could now. Heck, probably less than her, what with her having strange demonic powers and all.

Still, the look on Beast Boy's face was **really** pitiful and **really** hopeful...

He looked around uncertainly, matching stares with everyone present. Kasumi and Starfire wore expressions that nearly mirrored Beast Boy's. Cyborg seemed overjoyed that they finally had a solid lead to helping Terra after all this time. Robin also had an optimistic look on his face, though it was a guarded optimism that seemed to suit him so perfectly. Only Raven seemed to be maintaining her carefully neutral expression.

It's not like he didn't want to help the stone girl, he did. He just didn't want to attempt and fail; he'd likely just make everyone feel even worse than if he hadn't tried at all. Still... one last look at the green teen's pleading expression made his decision for him.

"Fine... fine, I don't know how, but I promise I'll do everything I can to save her..."

How could he do any less?

* * *

\--Present--

And that was pretty much what he had been trying to do this entire time. As gently as he could, he ran his finger over hers, trying to sense anything there that was out of place. It had taken him several days to build up the nerve to actually touch the petrified girl. Half out of fear of breaking her, half out of embarrassment about touching a girl like that. Still, even Cologne had had to touch the statue to sense anything, and her senses were several orders of magnitude more acute than his own.

Even with contact, he still couldn't discern anything noticeable though. Once again, he began to pace around the girl, ducking under her arms with the practiced ease earned from the hours of pacing he had done already. Hours and hours of staring at nothing but stone was starting to wear on his patience. He still wanted to help her, if only because her story was so ironically familiar to him, but his lack of progress after so long was starting to frustrate him. It hadn't even taken him this long to master the Bakusai Tenketsu!

After a time, his mind began to wander as he continued to pace around the statue. What did he know about the Breaking Point Technique anyway? How did it work, why did it work, what were the principals again? He had used the technique more on instinct than anything else for the longest time; perhaps it was time to revisit the basics.

That's what Ranma always did, wasn't it? He didn't just learn a technique, the pigtailed boy literally broke it down to its component elements, learned everything about the technique and how it worked. That in-depth knowledge let the overly clever martial artist innovate and improve his techniques, sometimes literally on the spot. Maybe that was what Ryouga himself needed to do? He had never delved too deeply into his own techniques, really.

Heck, if he had bothered to really sit down and think about the Bakusai Tenketsu when he had first learned it, he would have realized right away that it wouldn't have worked on Ranma like he had intended. And asides from perfecting the Shi Shi Houkodan, what else had he really done with the technique since? Sure, he could always push it to become more powerful, but that was more a matter of forcing his emotions, not manipulating the technique.

He had heard that Ranma could actually perform a Dual Mouko Takabisha, something that Ryouga had never even considered. Sure, each attack would only be half power, but depending on the circumstances, it could be a very useful technique. Ranma had also learned how to perform a horizontal Hiryua Shoten Ha, his unearthly mastery also extending to that technique as well.

Yes... perhaps it was time that **he** took the time to analyze his own techniques in just such a manner. Sure, he had beaten Ranma in their last fight, but that had only been due to his conditioning, not to any innovative improvement in his fighting skills. He held no illusions that Ranma wouldn't be able to overcome his new level of protection by further improving his techniques, just as he always had.

He looked up, just in time to notice himself about to step out of Terra's cavern completely. He cursed himself for his weaknesses, before spinning around angrily and locking his stare onto Terra once more. Not taking any chances, he moved a few steps closer to the unmoving girl, and sat down once more.

So... what did he know about the Bakusai Tenketsu? Hmm, well, as everyone knew, it worked on inanimate objects, generally stone. He had managed to get it to work on wood, ironically when he was a toddler at the time, which used to be living. That seemed to contradict the first thing he knew, which meant it required more thought. He also knew that the breaking point of an object wasn't an actual, physical point. It was a metaphorical point that he could only see with his minds eye.

He remembered, keenly, his first battle with Ranma, using the technique. He had struck at Ranma several times, but even his missed attacks had set off explosions from where they had randomly struck. And yet, he had still **seen** the points on Ranma, hence why he had aimed at them, which also seemed to contradict that first point. But... those hadn't actually been breaking points, had they? No, now that he thought about it, he'd really been aiming at key points in the other boy's chi flows; places where several of the meridians crossed or joined together. None of his attacks had hit, but if they had, it likely would have been more akin to hitting a pressure point than exploding his limbs.

He also knew that the technique relied on him using his chi, of focusing a tiny amount of it through his finger and into his target. So... then what was the difference between injecting a sliver of chi into a rock, into a board, or into Ranma? An unliving object, a once-living object, and a living object.

The answer was obvious right away, Ranma's chi flowed, much like a river does. You drop a glass of water into a river, and it is simply swept away. The meager amount of energy used in the Bakusai Tenketsu wouldn't have any effect on something with such a malleable chi flow. He briefly toyed with the idea of forcing a much greater volume of chi into the Bakusai Tenketsu... but the mental image of Ranma **actually** exploding wasn't nearly as attractive as it once was. Nor was the much more realistic image of his finger exploding from him trying to force so much energy to such a tiny point.

Still, the potential was there, but that was a thought for another time.

So, the thing which made the unliving stone and the once living board similar, was the fact that their chi was static. After all, a rock didn't possess any chi flow, it just possessed the same ambient chi that everything possessed. And though a board may have once possessed a chi flow, after the wood died, so to would the elasticity of it's chi. Thus, when one injects even a small amount of alien chi into the fixed chi of the rock or board, it broke. It made him think of a stone mason, even with a tiny chisel and hammer, someone that knew how the rock was formed, how it behaved, could split even a massive boulder with a single, small strike.

So, it would be more accurate for him to say that the Breaking Point didn't work on inanimate objects, but rather objects that possessed a static chi. That seemed to open the technique to a much wider array of materials than just stone and wood. Perhaps he would even be able to figure out how to apply it to metal in time, though he had never considered it before. After all, metal has been refined and purified, so it doesn't possess the obvious and natural breaking points that stone would. Of course, the image of detonating a steel door, and being pelted with hundreds of shards or razor-sharp steel... it didn't exactly fill him with confidence.

Still, the potential was there, but that was a thought for another time.

Absently, his eyes began to slide from Terra to wander around the room aimlessly. Yes, everything possessed chi; it surrounds us, penetrates us, binds the world together... heh, kind of like the Force. All living things generated chi, and with practice, people such as himself and Ranma could come to manipulate it... He was starting to drift off his original train of thought there somewhere...

He looked at the ground, right beneath him, counting the number of breaking points he could see, just within his reach. This far down, it was a lot of bedrock surrounding him, so the chi that suffused the entire area was uniform. He chuckled as a stray thought a stray thought flitted through his mind. Way down here, in the womb of the earth, it was almost like the whole world had its own chi.

Hm?

Slowly his eyes slid back to Terra's statue... Terra... terra... stone... earth...

Gears began to turn in his head; suddenly he felt an almost oppressive weight settle on his mind. As if there was some huge, ponderous... thing, hanging just out of reach.

Terra... stone... earth... rocks... terra... chi... earth... Earth... Terra... Earth...

Earth?

Slowly his eyes began to slide back from her statue to the ground before him. As his eyes traveled, breaking points began to make themselves known, tiny Nexis of chi, tiny points of light that symbolized the crossing of several lines of chi traveling through the bedrock. Slowly his eyes slid back to her stone feet. Did the breaking points around her statue seem to be just a slightly brighter shade than those around him... or was it just a trick of the light?

The overwhelming sense of impending... something, began to press in around him. It was almost like someone, somewhere was trying to tell him something. It was like the answer was just sitting on the edge of his perceptions, heck, on the tip of his tongue... it was so close he could taste it... Just a little... bit... mor-

His entire train of thought was utterly destroyed when his communicator chose that very moment to begin blaring out a series of nearly deafening beeps. He literally collapsed to his side, nearly feeling his heart seize up at the unexpected sound after countless hours of perfect quiet and solitude.

Letting out a rather nasty curse at whoever it was that disrupted his work, he flipped open the small hexagonal device and glared at the tiny view screen. The tiny face of Robin appeared on the top half of the device, a rather unusual expression on the younger hero's face.

"Titans! Code Red converge on my signal. Now!"


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own Ranma, Titans or DC in general.

Enjoy if you will, Tolerate if you won't.

* * *

Robin cleared the fifteen-foot gap between the two towering buildings without even breaking stride. He allowed a smile borne of pride to form on his lips at that. Even a week earlier, he wouldn't have attempted such a jump without using his grappling hook. But he had learned early on that his grappling hook slowed him down too much when hunting **this** criminal.

Happosai's tiny frame was still bouncing around madly before him, the old master cackling loudly in amusement. The ancient pervert leapt into the air once more, before suddenly whipping out his pipe and using it to swing around a nearby antenna. Instantly the old man shot off at a ninety-degree angle, physics be damned, and almost seemed to fly to the next rooftop beside them.

The Boy Wonder skidded to a stop as best as he could, digging the ever-present birdarang into the rough surface of the roof to slow him down. He had taken to constantly carrying a birdarang in each hand, often for his entire chases, just because of things like this. To his credit, he didn't completely wipe out, but it took him several agonizing seconds to recover enough to give chase again.

His heavy steel-toed boots hit the roof with a thunderous racket as he tore off after the old man. The next building was two stories higher, as well as fifteen feet away, he wouldn't be able to jump this one... not yet anyway. He whipped his right birdarang at the old man, just as he vanished over the ledge of the buildings roof. He certainly hoped he had anticipated the pervert's movements enough to give him a second's pause. A second later, his grappling hook was out, and he was flying up to the next roof as well.

He flipped over the edge of the building, just in time to see Happosai leaping off the building already. Even as he ran after the old man, he threw his left boomerang as hard as he could, forcing the old man to dodge. At the same time, he aimed his grappling hook and fired again, aiming for where he had forced the old man to evade. The gleaming blade of his favored accessory flew with lethal grace, careening unerringly for the withered master.

Only to be deflected by that thrice damned pipe! Happosai then flashed the pipe out again, tangling it into the hooks trailing cord and pulling with impossible strength. Robin found himself flying forward, only to land painfully on his face and skid several extremely uncomfortable feet until he stopped. He grimaced slightly, before he pushed himself to his feet and began running once more. Kasumi was going to have a fit when she saw the scrapes that were likely oozing blood all over his chin now.

Note to self, don't try that again.

Thankfully, the next building was a story shorter than the building he was on. Without even pausing to worry about it, he leapt again and flew nimbly through the air over the alley. He landed from the jump with a crunch and quickly rolled to sublimate the shock of the fall. For the dozenth time that night, he came up running again, just catching a glimpse of the old man ahead of him.

It was true that he was having a much easier time of hunting the old man than he had a week earlier, but the sad fact was that he was going to lose him soon at this rate. That last boneheaded maneuver had cost him four and a half seconds that he just knew he wasn't going to get back tonight. Usually, Happosai let him catch up after an hour or two of chasing and they'd fight it out a bit; then go their separate ways. But it had been at least two nights since Happi had got himself any of his precious "treasures"; it seemed likely the ancient master was just going to ditch him tonight if he couldn't keep up.

With that thought, the leader of the Teen Titans pushed his aching legs as hard as he could. He could literally feel them burn as he flew from roof to roof; hardly even paying attention to the bouncing speck that always seemed to be just one rooftop out of reach. All that mattered was keeping one foot in front of the other, getting every inch from each step, stealing every ounce of momentum from each swing of his arms.

Thus, he was pretty darn surprised, when he nearly landed on the old coot after leaping, nearly blindly, from that last building! As it was, he just managed to hop step over the, thankfully short, old man and make a rather embarrassing show of regaining his balance before he skidded to a stop and spun to face the martial artist.

"What on Earth are you doing? You wanna give a guy some warning the next time you pull up short like that?" he barked in annoyance. Heck, the old man wasn't even paying attention to him. Suddenly Robin's senses kicked into overdrive and a sense of _‘really bad’_ settled over him like a thick wool blanket. Happosai was standing before him, but the ancient master was staring past him, past him and above him.

Slowly, the masked boy turned and slid his gaze around to follow Happosai's curious stare. About ten feet behind the Boy Wonder, was a small structure on the roof, likely the roof entrance to the building’s staircase. There was nothing interesting there, so he allowed his gaze to crawl up the small structure, to the top of the wall. There...

His eyes widened in shock!

There, standing nonchalantly atop the wall, wearing the familiar black and red outfit, complete with short cape and skull mask...

Was Red X!

And... and whoever it was...

Damn, that suit looked good on her!

* * *

Happosai stared up at the lithe, trim, toned, taut... ummm, where was he again? Right! He stared up at the spandex wearing figure that blocked his path. The person, **obviously** female (the outfit hugged her generous curves, oh so perfectly.) stood confidently on the roof's entrance to the stairs, one hand resting alluringly on a perfectly rounded hip. Admittedly, the suit was a bit stark, and just a tad too grim for his tastes.

A skull face motif? Really, someone was trying far too hard to look evil. The dramatic slashes of red weren't too bad but didn't mean too much to him. The cape worked though, adding a touch of mystery, as well as accentuating and concealing at the same time.

The fact that Robin was standing about five feet in front of him, a shocked expression on his face... meh, he'd just found a **much** more interesting playmate.

It was then, that the masked figure spoke.

"Well, Grandpa, are you just going to stare all night? Or are you looking for some excitement?" Her voice came out in an unearthly, distorted tone, obviously to hide the true voice of the suit's owner. The girl then waved him in teasingly, before turning and leaping to the building behind her.

A chase? Oh ho! It had been a long, long time indeed since he'd chased someone else. And whoever this girl was, she was in the mood to play. A second later, and ancient muscles burned to life, launching him into the air after the lovely figure of the costumed thrill seeker.

"Red X! Stop right there!" Robin's guttural yell from behind him was easily ignored, by both him and his new playmate. He could easily feel the young boy's ki though, as the youth gave chase immediately.

Ahead of him, the person that Robin deemed, Red X, leapt gracefully from roof to roof. The girl bounced off an air conditioning unit, then somersaulted over a large boxy air vent before swinging merrily from a microwave tower. Her acrobatic movements left her sailing through the night's sky, her short cape fluttering like a leaf in the wind as she soared above the city. Soon she touched down once more, before lighting off across another rooftop and jumping another alley.

The ancient master didn't have any trouble following the nimble girl. She might have been extremely agile and quick, but not so much as the boy following them both at that very moment. Still, he'd play along a bit longer; it wasn't like anyone in this town could keep up with him if he cut loose.

A few quick hops, from rooftop, to ledge, to satellite dish, and he was on the same roof as his intriguing new friend. Another, rather unimpressive leap, took him high into the air above the girl. He pulled out his pipe as he descended, maybe a little trip would do the girl some good. Just as he was about to land the strike -

The girl spun, mid leap, and aimed both of her palms up at him. Suddenly, a pair of red X's shot out from her hands directly at him! One was aimed slightly higher, the other slightly lower, trying to limit his chances to dodge.

So, this girl had some tricks up her sleeves. He smiled happily, maybe this would be fun after all. The ancient master spun quickly, and angled his shrunken body so that he would pass between the small, red projectile-

Every muscle in his body spasmed instantly, as a crimson bolt of energy suddenly arced between the two symbols, just as he passed between them. He shook uncontrollably, hanging in the air between the two weapons, the energy seeming to hold him aloft. He saw, but didn't feel, his pipe drop from nerveless fingers and could smell the subtle smell of something cooking.

A second later, he dropped to the hard surface of the roof, smoking without the aid of his beloved pipe.

Before him, the girl stared at her black clad hands, apparently in awe of what she had just done. Even through the mask, he could almost see a wicked smile forming on her face. Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet and shook out his tensed muscles. He smiled himself, running his hands through his hair to smooth out the frazzled mess.

"A good trick, girl. Not many people use such clever tactics, certainly no one that I've fought lately," he praised her lightly. "Of course, I have a few tricks myself. Perhaps you'd like to see a few?"

His new friend looked about to reply, leaning back into a simple fighting stance – when suddenly she dove to the side, just avoiding the Bo staff which smashed into the ground where she had been a moment earlier. He raised an eyebrow as Robin's figure dropped to the ground between him and the girl; that attack had been rather vicious, caving in a small section of the roof.

Instantly, the Boy Wonder tore his weapon out of the roof, sending small shards of debris flying, and spun to face the black clad female.

"You give that suit back **now**!" roared the young hero. Happosai's other eyebrow rose at that. Robin's voice was filled with an anger that the vigilante hadn't demonstrated during the entire time that he had known the boy. Perhaps there was some history between these two, a jilted lover maybe? Oh, wouldn't that be delicious?

Rather than comply, Red X rested a hand on her hip, while shooing the Teen Titan away with a wave of her other hand. "Excuse me, Robin, but the adults are trying to talk now. You better run home and get cleaned up; you look a mess."

The synthesized voice sent Robin even further over the edge. The boy's face suddenly burned red and he flew toward her, his staff trailing dangerously. The ancient master considered the situation for a moment... then shrugged and hopped onto a nearby ledge to take a seat. Luckily, he had a few snacks for the night's trip, so he pulled a candy bar out of his pocket and started to unwrap it.

This certainly looked like it would be fun!

An instant later, Robin was on his opponent, his weapon spinning with the force of a typhoon. Red X just narrowly dodged out of the way, avoiding losing her head by a matter of inches. The swing was followed by a flashing kick, then a spinning backhand which trailed the staff only seconds behind it. Each attack cracked the air loudly as Robin nearly blurred into a raging combination of attacks, intent on taking the girl down.

It was all that she could do, nearly flailing around in panic, to avoid the flashing strikes. It was obvious to Happosai, that the girl was woefully outclassed in hand-to-hand combat. If she were to have any hope here, she'd need to gain some distance so she could pull a few more tricks out of her hat, so to speak.

As if hearing his thoughts, Red X back flipped under a horizontal slash of Robin's staff, before leaping into the air and back some ten feet. Robin charged recklessly after her, obviously sensing her intent. The ancient master chuckled; the boy really should pay more attention to his surroundings in a fight. If he had, he would have noticed the palm-sized, red X that the clever girl had left on the ground as she had back flipped away.

An instant later, Robin crashed to the ground, as he stepped on the red mark and it bonded his heavy boot to the roof. The Anything Goes Master nearly laughed out loud at the sight of the fuming boy, whose chin was bleeding all over again now. The lovely Red X took the moment to regain her bearings and dropped into a loose combat stance.

With an angry surge, the masked boy broke free of the glue-like substance and ran forward again. Happosai shook his head a bit at that. The boy was obviously blinded with anger for some reason, maybe he'd been hanging around that Hibiki boy too much?

"Robin! I'm not here to fight you! I'm here for him!" stated the woman, gesturing his way.

The youth didn't even slow in his charge. "I **don't care**! You're not getting away with that **suit**!" With that said, Robin pulled out a fan of three boomerangs from his belt and threw them at the girl, following close behind. Rather than dodge, she raised her hands again. X's fired out machine gun style from her palms, filling the air between the two combatants. Robin was forced to flip back and spin his staff to deflect the projectiles. His boomerangs weren't so lucky, all three of them were hit by the X's and knocked out of the air.

A second later, Robin's staff came to a stop, though not of his volition. The ancient master cackled again! Each of those projectiles had been the same adhesive material as the one that had caught the boy a moment earlier. Now his weapon was coated with large, sticky streams of the ruby material which had stretched out to catch the roof. As soon as the weapon stopped spinning, it was ripped from his gloved hand and slammed to the roof with a wet splat.

Happosai's attention was diverted from the amusing scene, as a shadow flitted across his vision for a moment. He looked up, just in time to see Red X descending on him. He rolled his eyes, before cartwheeling to the side to avoid the clumsy attack. He prepared to send a stinging verbal barb her way -

When, as soon as she landed, she slammed her open palm to the rooftop. Suddenly the ground split open beneath him, in fact, the roof split into four separate sections as Red X's latest attack sundered the ground open in four directions from where she landed. It happened so fast, that he didn't even have time to jump away. He fell into the rupture, a cloud of dust, insulation, and whatever other bits the roof was built from floating down with him. For just a fraction of a second, his mind tripped over how silent the attack was, considering the damage it had just cause.

Of course, it was only a ten-foot drop to the floor beneath him, so he was hardly worried. Then, with a sigh, he raised his hand above his head and caught the girl's foot as she dropped on him in a jump kick. A second later and she became intimately acquainted with the apartment door. With a loud crash of splintering wood, the girl flew out the door and into the hallway.

He was forced to dodge next though, as four flashing discs flew down at him through the opening above. Two of the discs exploded violently, while the other two burst into small clouds of super cooled gasses. His eyes narrowed as Robin dropped through the opening, a pair of birdarangs in his hands. The angry look on the boy's face, not to mention his obvious upgrade to more dangerous weapons, spoke of how serious the boy had become. Apparently, the hero had absolutely no regard for the poor owners of this apartment.

The young hero landed before him and glared heatedly. "Stay out of this, Happosai. I have to recover that suit; you don't know how dangerous it is!" He then spun and ran out into the hallway, following the retreating sound of his prey's footsteps.

Happosai's eyes narrowed dangerously. Stay out of it? Who did that boy think he was? Who was the master here, and who the student? His aura flickered into existence around him and his eyes began to glow with crimson ki. Beside him, a frozen mirror cracked ominously, before shattering to pieces from the catastrophic changes in temperature.

Robin had received enough endurance training. It was about time...

For a **real** combat lesson.

* * *

Robin tore around the corner, just in time to see Red X pry open the elevator door with a pair of bladed weapons that extended from the back of her gloves. He shouted angrily, before running forward once more.

Apparently yelling out wasn't the best idea though, as Red X turned his way and fired another, larger X his way. He was about to dodge when it stopped five feet in front of him. Instantly, the four corners shot out, sticking to the four corners of the hallway, and expanding to block the passage. Through the gaps left by the walls, he saw the criminal girl leap down the shaft and disappear from his sight.

With a frustrated swipe of his birdarang, he slashed the red obstacle in half and leapt after her. He reached the open door a moment later and without a second though, he jumped down after her. The floors whizzed by, as he flew suicidally after the villain.

"Wrong way, Robin!" was all he heard, as Red X suddenly shot up past him, being pulled up by her own grappling hook.

Why had he installed so many systems into that damn suit? He cursed himself for the hundredth time since he had made it, then he pulled out his grappling hook and fired it up as well. He was about four stories below the girl and falling behind. Her equipment was simply better than his, that's all there was to it.

Several seconds later, she was at the ceiling and using a smaller version of her earlier move to open a path to the roof once more. Almost as an afterthought, she used her wrist blade to slash his cord before she jumped through the opening and up to the roof.

Instantly he was falling again, as the rope from his tool began to fall uselessly around him. Rather than panic, he grabbed the elevator cable and swung to the nearby wall. He then started triangle jumping, from wall to wall, until he reached the roof as well. A moment later, he was up and through the opening.

He spun around quickly, scanning the roof as soon as he landed. There! Two roofs over and moving fast. He took off, as fast as his exhausted legs would carry him. The scenery flew by, as he nearly soared across the rooftops in pursuit of the young woman. Whoever she was, she wasn't too bad, but if he hadn't already been chasing Happosai around all night, there would have been no way that she'd have been able to get away from him. As it was, he was starting to fall behind slowly, his arms and legs burning painfully from the exertion.

At least, at least the girl didn't seem to have figured out all the suits systems yet, relying on only a few of the abilities it had. But that likely wouldn't last long, and she'd only get more dangerous as time went by.

No! He had to stop her, here and now!

He pulled out a fan of birdarangs with his right hand and a fan of electric discs with his left. He waited until both him and Red X were leaping over alleys, before he threw the barrage of projectiles her way. The young woman landed only a moment before the whirling weapons converged on her position. She turned, just in time to give a loud squeal of panic and frantically try to dodge as the discs began exploding around her and the birdarangs slammed into her sides.

Red X landed a moment later, smoking slightly and with a few shallow tears in the suit along the torso and upper arms. It was all the time he needed to close the gap. He landed on the roof, even as she was shaking her head after regaining her feet. He smiled wickedly, pulling out another birdarang.

"I think it's about time you give up, after all... you look a mess," he quipped sarcastically.

He slowly circled around her, flipping his weapon into a reverse grip. Red X shook her head one last time, before she dropped into a loose stance and started to mirror his circling movement.

"You play very rough for a **hero** ," she replied a bit bitingly. "Do you attack everyone this harshly?"

"Only the ones that steal dangerous and experimental technology out of my **home**. I don't care what your plans are, this ends **here**." He took a step forward, brandishing his weapon threateningly. He didn't have enough energy left for an extended fight, but she likely didn't know that.

Red X took a step back to match his. Her stance did tighten slightly, though her head tilted to the side in amusement. "But, Robin, if I give you the suit right now, whatever would I wear home? I wouldn't want to be arrested for indecent exposure, now would I?"

She could parade down the street naked, with sparklers and a parade, for all he cared. He was getting that damned suit back and that was that. He prepared to make good on his thoughts, when -

"My, my, I can't imagine what kind of degenerate person would consider your exposure to be indecent," cackled an ancient voice. A moment later, their battle was interrupted as the owner of the voice dropped down between them.

Robin took a step back, feeling a bit nervous for the first time tonight. Happosai had a rather grim look on his face, not to mention an unearthly aura glowing around him. Suddenly recovering the Red X suit didn't seem like such an immediate concern.

"It's about time that I taught you a lesson in manners, boy. I don't care what kind of sordid affair you two may have had in your past, but when **I'm** fighting someone, I do **not** like to be ignored. Now, it's time for you two to learn exactly why **I** am the master," decreed the old man, a threatening amount of steel in his voice.

Suddenly, Robin found himself looking to Red X again, this time seeing her as a potential ally rather than a vile criminal. Desperate times and all that. The girl looked back at him, matching his gaze. He could almost see her considering his unspoken offer. Unfortunately, it only lasted for a second.

"Sorry, Robin, but you're on your own on this one. Try not to get too hurt!" The criminally attractive girl then leapt back into the air, before suddenly vanishing into a flash of black. Damn, it looked like she found the teleportation system as well, not good.

Which left him staring at an irate Grand Master of the martial arts. With the resigned calm of a man facing a firing squad, Robin pulled out his communicator and opened it. Hmmm, on second thought... forget resigned calm!

"Titans! Code Red converge on my signal. Now!"

* * *

"Thanks for coming to the cavern to get me, Raven." Ryouga looked over to the girl standing beside him, as the two of them floated over the city on an ebony disc of darkness. The dark Titan didn't return his look, focusing her attention on the task at hand. One of her graceful hands hovered before her, encased with dark energy as she controlled the disc. Her other hand held her communicator, as she homed in on Robin's signal.

"In this case, it is the most I could do. Kasumi is still insisting that I am not recovered enough for combat," she replied after a few moments. He might have been imagining it, but he thought he saw a ghost of a smile grace her pale lips. "After all, you are supposedly filling in for me, it would reflect poorly on me if you didn't make it to the emergency."

A sudden updraft sent the disc wobbling for a second. He very nearly grabbed his companion's shoulder to steady himself but stopped himself at the last second. His callused hand hovered over the smooth material of her cloak for several seconds, before he dropped it to his side, a sigh escaping his lips.

The two of them had been getting along better lately, but he didn't want to push his luck. Though, at least she hadn't flinched this time when he had nearly touched her. It was a habit she had acquired after their encounter in the church, and he felt a little of himself die every time she did it.

The rest of the trip passed in uncomfortable silence.

Several minutes later, they arrived at the source of the signal. Raven must have made good time, while Starfire was already there, Beast Boy was just lowering Cyborg to the roof with his massive, saurian claws. As soon as they were within twenty feet of the building, he leapt the remaining distance and rushed forward to see what had occurred. He felt a strange... disturbance in Raven's aura behind him when he leapt but couldn't identify what it meant.

"Yo, Robin! You okay, man?" Cyborg ran forward as well, to where their small leader was lying on the roof, his spiky haired head resting comfortably on Starfire's lap. Ryouga had to admit, the masked vigilante looked pretty roughed up. The boy's outfit was trashed, his face was covered in bruises and some nasty scratches covered his chin. Even the boy's cape was shredded in half, a worrying fact, considering it was a flame resistant, titanium material.

" **Dude** , what happened? You look like you got run over... twice!" came Beast Boy's unnecessary comment. Both boys stopped at their leader's side and started hovering over him. Ignoring all the commotion, Raven glided past all of them and knelt beside the injured boy. Rather than ask any inane questions, she simply started to pass her azure glowing hands over Robin's injuries.

Robin looked at everyone present, a serious expression on his face. "Happosai happened, but that's not important right now."

Starfire apparently thought otherwise, as her eyes began to glow with a passionate emerald energy. "The Happosai person injured you so grievously? I will not **stand** for it! We must find him and punish him. **Now**!" she all but demanded. The Lost Boy was sure the only thing stopping her from flying off, right then and there, was Robin's head on her lap. Not that he disagreed with her at all. He'd gone along with this because he knew that the old pervert was usually harmless. But to see his new friend brutally beaten...

The Tamaranean's rant died out, as Robin's hand came to rest on hers.

"No. Happosai doesn't matter, he's nothing compared to our real problem." Robin's intense stare filled them all with confusion... or maybe just him. No, no, one look at Beast Boy and Cyborg and he was sure they were confused as well.

"What could possibly be worse than an underwear stealing gnome, that just happens to be one of the most powerful martial artists on the planet?" Raven asked, a bit of disbelief in her voice as well. Ryouga understood her annoyance with the old man only too well. It was unfortunate, but the list of people that Happosai refused to target for his raids consisted of only three people: Kasumi, Jinx and Starfire. The first time that the Gothic girl had returned to her room from the med lab, she had found it very lacking in certain... accoutrements.

That had been the day that Ryouga had started camping out in Terra's cavern.

"Red X."

The two syllables cut through his thoughts and silenced everyone present. The tone with which they were delivered was deadly serious, and the effect it had on all the Titan's present, was instantaneous.

"It cannot be!"

"But, dude, I thought **you** were Red X!"

"How the heck did they get past my security?"

He could only stare in confusion, at the shocked and panicked looks that now covered his friends' faces. He suddenly felt on the outside looking in, as he tried to figure out why everyone was so put out by this latest threat. Beast Boy's comment didn't help his confusion either, what had the boy meant by that?

Raven's flat stare matched Robin's gaze. "Do you have any idea who it could have been?"

The young leader shook his head harshly. "Not a clue, but whoever it was, she was pretty good," he offered grudgingly.

That brought everyone up short.

"Um... she?"

"A **girl** stole your suit?"

And the inevitable, "Snnk, heh, Robin, I didn't know you wore unisex outfits!" Beast Boy followed up his nonsensical comment with a hail of boisterous laughter. At least until a pair of glaring females silenced him painfully.

It was about then, that he decided to force his way back into the conversation. He cleared his throat loudly and took a few steps forward to join the group. He waited until all their gazes slid his way before he began. "Um... I'm sure this is all a very dire emergency, but... "

"... but who the heck is Red X?"


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own Ranma, Titans or DC in general.

Enjoy if you will, Tolerate if you won't.

* * *

Starfire did her best to ignore the flashing lights, as she gazed longingly at the back of her very closest friend. She disliked, very much, seeing Robin in such a state of self anger. Even injured, the proud young man refused their help. He stood ramrod straight, staring intently at the elevator door as they rode up to the Tower's main room. To anyone but his closest friends, which was nearly everyone present in the elevator, he might have appeared detached and in control. However, she knew better; she could see the tightly coiled muscles in his arms tensing as he tried to contain his emotions.

She wasn't sure if anyone else noticed, they were all lost in thoughts of their own. To her rear, Beast Boy, Raven and Ryouga were standing in relative silence. Her emerald companion was shifting back and forth anxiously, a nervous expression on his face. Ryouga was glaring at the wall of the elevator, as if blaming it for his current situation. Ever since they had begun speaking of Red X, the young warrior had started to withdraw, perhaps feeling left out of their discussion. Between the two boys, and leaning against the back of the elevator, was Raven. The pale young woman wore an, almost excessively so, neutral expression on her face. It was obvious that Red X was the last thing on her mind though, considering the extremely brief and secretive glances she continued to cast at the bandanna clad boy's back.

Beside her, Cyborg was busily reading a series of readouts on the view screen mounted in his forearm. The small screen was still flashing and emitting small beeps, informing them of the security breech which had occurred in the tower shortly after they had convened with Robin. As soon as they had learned of the incursion, they had made their way back to the tower as quickly as possible.

When they had gotten there everything appeared to be normal. Aside from the alarm lighting, there was nothing out of place or damaged. Robin's first reaction, though, had surprised them all greatly.

"Kasumi is alone in there. Our priority is making sure she's safe. Then we'll find out what the alert is."

It had shocked them all quite a bit, the realization that someone helpless, like Kasumi, was in the tower during a possible enemy attack. It was also the reason they were riding up the elevator to the main room, since Kasumi's room was on the same floor, rather than going to the basement to determine the source of the alarm.

It was also likely a part of the reason that the Lost Boy, as Ranma had been constantly calling him, was still glaring at the wall. Ryouga took his role as Kasumi's guardian very seriously, and he was obviously annoyed that Robin had thought of her welfare before he had. She would have felt bad for him, except that his total obliviousness to Raven's attention was starting to annoy her.

The near silent swish of the elevator doors opening heralded their arrival to the main room. As a group, they rushed out into the room, prepared for anything. Robin charged forward bo staff leading the way. Cyborg barreled past him, Sonic Cannon glowing threateningly. Raven and herself flew up as soon as they exited the door, while Beast Boy and Ryouga moved out to flank the two other boys. The flashing red lights and the blaring alarms nearly overwhelmed her senses as she surveyed the room...

"Oh my!"

What she saw was unusual, even for her sensibilities. There, sitting calmly on a stool by the kitchen counter, calmly sipping a cup of tea, was Kasumi... being calm. In fact, the young woman appeared to be more surprised by their rapid entrance into the tower, than by the loud sirens or strobing lights.

Immediately, Ryouga rushed forward to check on the Tendo woman. "Kasumi, are you alright? Did anyone attack you?" he asked, speaking loudly to be heard. Her friend wore a mask of fear and concern on his face, and she could sense his anger bubbling just beneath the surface. His desire to lash out at whatever caused this was nearly palpable; she could practically feel it in his soul.

To the side, Cyborg powered down his sonic cannon and moved over to the control panel by the elevator. Several deft movements of his fingers and the room was returned to blessed normalcy.

"I'm perfectly fine, Ryouga. I'm not sure exactly what is happening, but the computer was kind enough to explain some of the situation to me," Kasumi replied to Ryouga's worried inquiries.

Hearing that, Robin moved over as well, deftly maneuvering around the island counter that separated the kitchenette from the rest of the room. "What's the situation, Kasumi?"

Kasumi turned to regard their young leader, and gasped in surprise when she finally saw the condition the boy was in. Starfire could sympathize with the gentle woman's concern, she had hardly been consolable herself, when she had seen what that Old Man had done to him. The brunette looked ready to bury Robin under a wave of medical care, but the deadly serious look on the boy's face stopped her instantly.

The older girl regarded Robin for a few moments, apparently torn between helping him and answering his question. However, a moment later she looked down and away, a slight frown on her lips. "The computer said that there was a forced entrance in the basement. Apparently, it happened a little over twenty minutes from when you sent out your call to everyone's communicators."

Cyborg smacked a fist into his open palm, resulting in a metallic clang. "Dammit! Whoever did this must have been planning this for weeks. They hit us as soon as we went to help you out, man." The titanium teen then raised a hand to his chin in consideration. "And twenty minutes... into the basement... Ah, man! Whoever it was, they must have found the emergency entrance! But how would they have known about that?"

It was Raven's turn to look surprised. Her dear friend floated forward to join the group, an odd look on her features. "It's my fault... When Cologne and Ranma arrived to help me, I directed them to the emergency entrance, so they could enter undetected."

"That means that whoever did this, they were spying on us for at **least** two weeks," theorized Robin. He then continued. "What else did the computer tell you?"

Kasumi looked back to the serious young man, her saddened look still present. "Apparently, they only made it up to the third subbasement, before they set off an alarm and activated the security measures. That was all that it told me, and I couldn’t go and see for myself, since I don't have any access to restricted areas."

Robin nodded, deep in thought. "That's for the best; you shouldn't be putting yourself into that kind of danger anyway. Thanks, Kasumi, you've told me everything I need to know about what's happening."

The Tendo woman smiled at that, then moved forward and placed a delicate hand on the boy's face, checking his injury before he could argue. Starfire felt an odd twinge pass through her at the gesture, seeing someone else act so familiar around Robin. It was not jealousy... was it? How could she possibly be jealous of Kasumi? Kasumi acted more like a mother than the attractive young woman that she was.

Another odd thought struck her, derailing her rather unpleasant train of thought.

"But Robin. Is there not only one device stored in the third subbasement?" she asked.

Robin nodded, politely ignoring Kasumi as she began fussing over his injuries. Strangely enough, a small smile was forming on their leader's face, despite the raw and scabbed skin that covered his abused chin.

"The only thing stored there was the Red X suit."

Beast Boy's sudden bark of laughter rolled over everyone, drawing all their gazes. "Dude, that is **so** awesome! Someone just went to all that trouble, to steal somethin that's already been **stolen**! Oh man, Cy, tell me you got cameras down there," crowed the changeling.

The look of joy on Beast Boy's face was contagious as he continued.

"I have **gotta** see the look on that guy's face when he finds out!"

* * *

Yet another intolerably long elevator ride and they were finally at the scene of the crime. Ryouga growled to himself again, probably for the tenth time that night. How could he have **forgotten** that Kasumi was alone in the tower? What the hell had he been doing? While he was out sitting in some cavern looking at a **rock,** the most gentle, sweet, and caring woman in the entire world was at the mercy of some random criminal.

Once again, the elevator doors slid open. This time all that was revealed was a narrow corridor. All his companions rushed out past him to examine what had happened.

"You can't blame yourself for this."

Almost all his companions. He turned to regard the cloaked girl; he seriously doubted that she needed her empathic powers to guess what was on his mind. Mindful of the elevator, he stepped across the threshold and waited for her to join him. A moment later, the elevator door slid close behind them.

He contemplated the dispassionate gaze on the young woman's face, before grunting derisively. "I don't see why not. I'm supposed to be protecting Kasumi, and the first time that something happens, I'm not even within ten **kilometers** of her."

Raven's eyes narrowed at his words. "We were **all** away; we all went to help Robin. Are you saying that it's more important to watch over Kasumi, on a one in one thousand chance that something like this happens, than it is to help someone that you **know** is in trouble?"

He opened his mouth to bark a response... but then her words echoed across the reason center of his brain. So instead, he stood there for a moment, mouth hanging open like a gasping fish. When she put it like that... "Damn! Why do you have to be so **smart** all of the time?" he barked irritably.

So much for his self loathing inner monologue. Her superior smirk wasn't helping at all, as it was obvious who had won that exchange. Sure, it was cute, but that just made it that much more irksome.

"Well, considering the competition here, it's not too difficult," she said, her smirk widening into a small smile. "Besides, if you hadn't been with us helping Robin, you would have been with Terra, trying to help her. Now you can't tell me that helping **her** isn't just as important as helping Kasumi, can you?"

Again, he opened his mouth to respond... but nothing cutting or witty sprang to mind. Why did his brain always fail him in these situations? He'd need to work on his banter if he wanted to bandy wits with the likes of her. So instead of standing there like a fool, he spun on the ball of his foot and marched off down the hallway. He made sure to arch his back fiercely to make his annoyance obvious to her. He could sense her float after him almost immediately.

"You're not really angry, Hibiki, and you're not going to get any sympathy by pretending," her muttered voice traveled over his shoulder, a teasing tone flowing in it.

He didn't bother turning, he just continued to trek down the hallway, carefully stepping around the smashed laser cannons on the floor. At least five of the devices had been destroyed when the culprit had made their escape.

"I am angry, I'm always angry, just ask anyone," he barked back, barely holding in the small chuckle that threatened to destroy his posturing.

He could feel her close the distance between them, just hanging a few scant inches behind his shoulder. Another odd ripple ran through her aura, different from the last one as they flew over the city. "You'd be more convincing if you weren't smiling, you know."

This time he did stop, suddenly. He enjoyed a minute of spiteful glee, when she bounced into his back... well, the soft and warm contact that her gently curved body produced when she collided with him elicited more sensations than just the spite, but he focused mainly on that. He turned to look over his shoulder, smiling at the annoyed frown on her lips now. "Hey, since when did I start receiving the Beast Boy treatment anyway?"

She glared at him for a moment before she floated past him. "I wasn't giving you 'the Beast Boy treatment', but if you ever do that again, I'll do something that makes 'the Beast Boy treatment' pale in comparison." Her warning given, the darkly clad girl floated to join her friends at the end of the hall.

He mentally kicked himself. Why had he done that? He knew that she still wasn't comfortable with him touching her in anyway. How could he blame her, considering he had nearly killed her? Gods, for just a moment, he had forgotten; he'd been so caught up in her gentle teasing. As much as he wanted to, he knew there was no way he could ever truly be her friend again, not after what he had done to her.

A quiet sigh escaped his lips, as he finally caught up to everyone at the end of the hall. It appeared that most of the wall they were examining was taken up by a large vault. The massive titanium door of said vault was currently laying flat on the ground. All around the door, along the floor, ceiling and walls were dozens of tiny reflective devices, carefully placed. Now, Robin was inside the vault. He was examining a large metallic slab which seemed to possess a strange indent, as if someone had lain down in the molten metal when it had been forged. Starfire and Beast Boy were both playing around with some of the reflective discs.

After finishing some scan or another, Cyborg finally moved over to the fallen vault door and casually lifted it up and leaned it against the wall. "Ah ha! Here's the culprit!" he exclaimed, pointing to a large metal dome that still clung to the front of the large door. Several spindly arms protruded from the circular device, but had mostly been snapped off when the door had fallen...

Hey!

"Hey! That's Gizmo's old safe cracker. He showed it to me over a month ago, back at the academy. He said it was one of his first-year projects, but that he never ended up using it, since he could hack any security system anyways," Ryouga said, happy to finally be able to add something to the investigation.

Cyborg nodded slowly in agreement. "Yeah, it's definitely Short Stuff's tech."

"Does that mean that Gizmo stole your suit?" Beast Boy asked, a slightly puzzled look on his face.

Robin stepped out of the vault and shook his head slightly. "It's possible, but it seems a bit crude for him. It's possible that someone else might have bought the device from him, if what Ryouga says is true."

Ryouga rolled his eyes in annoyance at that but held his peace. Admittedly, it didn't make a whole lot of sense to him. Someone using Gizmo's technology to steal something that had already been stolen. That didn't help them figure out who **actually** stole the suit. After all, the door was obviously still in place and functional when they had left to get Robin, or else there would have been no reason to rip the door off like that.

That seemed to indicate that whoever had **really** stolen the suit had been a much better thief. They had to have been, to get in, get the suit and get out, and leave the vault locked back up behind them.

Hmm... that was an interesting thought. Apparently, Cyborg was way ahead of him, already accessing the vaults electronic lock. The larger teen considered the information on his arm for several moments, before finally coming to a conclusion.

"These jokers didn't just hack this door once, they did it twice! Once tonight, but it looked like it failed, hence the overkill. The second time, though, was **two** days ago, and it was successful. Whoever it was, they were good, cut through the encryptions like nothing. I have no idea who it could have been, or how they got past everything else so easily, but they cracked this safe like an egg," said the Cybernetic hero, a mix of anger and awe in his voice.

Everyone seemed to lose themselves in thought at his explanation. Ryouga, however, was on a different train of thought. After Cyborg finished his scan and moved off to think it over, he moved in to examine the lock himself.

Ah ha again! It had been a long shot, but there they were, as plain as day. Ryouga couldn't be sure who had hacked first or second, but he had a strange feeling that the people he was considering were the ones that had been successful.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think I can narrow your list of suspects from **anyone** down to about five or so," he muttered cryptically. He ran his fingers over the input port on the lock, smiling slightly at his discovery.

Almost instantly, Robin was at his side, glaring at him intently. "What do you mean?" he nearly demanded.

He rolled his eyes but decided to let his friends insistent attitude pass. He knew that the young hero was truly angry about this whole issue, though he still wasn't a hundred percent sure why. So rather than argue the merits of polite discussion, he pointed to the input port on the vault’s lock.

"I can't be sure who hacked the lock first, but if you look carefully around the input, you can see four tiny scratch marks," he said, indicating the marks with his finger. Robin leaned in eagerly, carefully examining the marks. After a moment, the teen hero nodded and stood back up.

"I see them, but what do they mean?"

His smile grew slightly at that, it was always fun to be the one that knew the answer to something. "Those are the marks left by the computer hacking probe which is standard issue in all Hive communicators."

He quickly followed up his explanation by pulling out his own hexagonal communicator. He carefully flipped oven a panel on the bottom of the device, then pulled out a long cord and moved it towards the lock.

"Since most Hive students, like Jinx, Mammoth, or myself, never carry around any technical gear asides from our communicators, the Headmaster made sure that they could do as many things as possible. Not only do they have the communication and tracking ability that yours do, but they also double as memory sticks for downloading stolen data and a hacking device for taking out security systems." He carefully maneuvered the tiny probe to the input and touched it to the opening.

Instantly, four tiny hooks swung out from the sides and scratched lightly into the titanium of the vault door. "Heh, normally, those would dig into the metal of a computer panel. They're meant to hold the probe in place in case the communicator is dropped because of a fight or some other kind of disturbance."

Since the hooks couldn't gain any purchase on the solid metal of the door, he carefully slid it in the rest of the way. A moment later, a series of algorithms were displayed on the tiny screen of his communicator.

Robin stared in interest, while everyone else gasped in shock at his demonstration. The fanged boy looked over the display for several moments, before grunting in dismay. "Hmm, man, this is some complicated stuff. There's no way that I would have been able to pull this off. There were probably only one or two people in the entire academy that could have hacked this," he muttered in disbelief. Man, no wonder this last guy had just resorted to tearing the door off.

Cyborg glared angrily, cracking his knuckles as he stared at the communicator. "Three guesses as to who one of those people were."

"Dude, I only need one. Looks like Gizmo got to help on **both** safe cracking’s. On the same safe no less," growled Beast Boy.

Starfire nodded, a thoughtful look on her features. "And if it was Gizmo who stole the suit, then it is most likely that the female who was wearing it was..."

They all nodded in unison, as the answer became glaringly obvious to them. It was Robin that finally voiced the name that hovered on all their minds.

"Nabiki."

* * *

Nabiki spun around before her full-length mirror, marveling at her new suit once again. She had asked Gizmo to hook her up with a little something to help her keep up with her boys and all the enemies they were going to start racking up soon, but this exceeded her expectations. She looked down again, running her hands across the smooth, body hugging material that now covered her. Not only did it look good, but it felt great.

She noticed Gizmo still standing behind her, looking a little hot under the collar. It would be cruel of her to tease the boy, especially after he had just given her such a wonderful gift. Which, of course, was exactly why she decided to do it. Arching her back innocently, she then leaned forward as far as she could, running her hands down her legs and pretending to inspect her new boots.

A strangled gasp and the hurried sound of her favorite little inventor quickly turning away gave her a boost to her ego that she surely didn't need. Suppressing the wicked smile that wanted to bloom on her ruby painted lips, she stood straight once more and looked in the mirror again. If those were the kind of reactions she was going to get, maybe it was about time that she rethought her stance on not wearing spandex in public.

The suit’s capabilities were impressive as well, Gizmo had given her a rundown of what it could do, and she'd feigned understanding most of it. She'd read the manual later. She was sure that she'd figure out all the less understandable systems as she got more used to the suit. She had to admit it though; this suit was a marvel of technology. With her limited understanding of the mad sciences (as she loved calling it around her little inventor) she had no idea how a skin-tight suit could even do any of the things it did.

There was one thing that was bothering her though. She turned to her companion, an upturned eyebrow displaying her concern. "Gizmo?"

The young, young man turned back to face her, digging his toe adorably into the carpet and trying desperately to hide a blush. "Um... yeah, Boss?"

"I don't want to complain, but this suit is just a _little bit_ tight," she stated calmly. An instant later, she intensified her glare, as Gizmo's face suddenly bloomed a bright red again. "I can only assume that there is a **good** reason for my outfit being so tight and not some immature, hormone driven reason... can't I?"

The poor boy looked like his head was about to explode for a moment there, when, "Um – It's new! Yeah, it's new, so it needs to be broken in! I'm sure you'll stretch it out in no time!"

Her brow arched dangerously at his choice of words.

"Wait! Not stretch out... um... work in! Yeah, you'll work it in, in no time, all comfortable-like, like a body glov- I mean, like a glove... ah, I'm gonna shut up now..." he finally muttered in humiliation.

Only to be difficult, she held her imperious glare for another moment, before finally smiling happily. Then she leaned forward and patted him affectionately on the head. "Oh, Gizmo, you're such a boy. But you try so hard, so I'll let it slide this time. Now, tell Billy to get me a coffee, I'm dying of thirst in here."

The look of relief on the young boy's face was hilarious, as he scrambled off to get someone else to do something menial for her. Ah, she loved her boys; they were just so much fun! Well, except for Billy, she was starting to wish that she'd taken See-more instead. Not only was Billy a sexist jerk that was stupid enough to hit on **Shampoo** of all people, but she was starting to realize the synergy that See-more and Kyd Wykkyd possessed when they combined their powers. She groaned loudly in disgust, why had she let the appeal of an infinite number of henchmen fool her?

"Yeah, I'd be groaning too if I had to wear a full body corset like that. Sheesh, I had no idea that Giz was so shameless," came a lyrical voice from the doorway.

At that, Nabiki turned to see her impromptu guest enter the room. She looked the girl over once before letting out a dismissive huff. "Shameless or not, I look **gooood**. And I hardly think you should be giving out fashion advice now, Jinx," she fired back, gesturing to her companion's outfit.

Jinx leaned casually against the doorframe; her outfit consisted pretty much entirely of a fluffy cotton bathrobe. It was such a bright pink, that the girl's flowing locks seemed to melt into it where they fell around her shoulders. Nabiki noted, idly, that Jinx had yet to put her hair back up into its usual upturned style, and frankly, she looked a lot better with it down like this. Of course, her grayish, pale skin and pink cat-like eyes still made her stand out from a crowd, but she didn’t look like a villain at the moment.

Especially not with the absolutely adorable shade of pink that she'd painted her toenails.

Oh, and then there was the tub of triple chocolate fudge ice cream lodged in her arm like a long-lost child. The young sorceress casually scooped out a spoonful of the tasty treat and ate it with passionate abandon.

" _Mmmmm_... That's sooo good. Anyway, it doesn't matter what **I'm** wearing, Biki. I don't have anyone to impress. Besides, we both know that I don't have the body to pull of something like **that**." Jinx punctuated her point, by draping her spoon bearing hand across her brow dramatically. "Oh, woe is me, a scarecrow that can't even get Happosai's attention."

Nabiki rolled her eyes, trying to bury her amusement. "Do you have any idea how many women would **kill** to have **that** particular problem? Besides, I know **one** boy that likes your body just the way it is. I'm sure if you gave him a proper test drive, he'd appreciate you in a whole new way," she suggested in a sly voice.

Her little jab worked, as Jinx's face suddenly blushed as red as a tomato. The girl then narrowed her eyes and pointed her spoon threateningly. "Don't get started on **that** again, Biki. I told you why I let Raven have him. I've done too much wrong to deserve him, and I don't need you constantly dredging up the past like that, thank you very much."

Yet **again** , Nabiki rolled her eyes. "And I told **you** how **I** feel about giving! It's wrong, on so many levels. And really, would you listen to yourself talk? 'Oh, I'm not worthy of the Lost Boy, he's ever so perfect and kind.' I hate to burst your bubble, Jinx, but Ryouga ain't no saint. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that he was a psychotic maniac when he first arrived on the scene. Trust me, you are _exactly_ the kind of girl that he deserves, and I only partially mean that in an insulting way."

Her irate companion glared back at her, angrily devouring another spoonful of gooey ice cream. "Yeah... well... well, _shut up_!"

The Ice Queen of the Hive Five smirked happily. "Oooh, nice comeback, Jinx. Is that the same witty banter you pull out for the superheroes? Heh, well, I can't blame you, there hasn't been a person born yet that can get the better of Tendo Nabiki," she proclaimed happily.

The annoyed sorceress turned to leave, but then stopped suddenly. Jinx turned to look over her shoulder one last time, a wicked smile on her face. "Yeah? Well, that suit makes your butt look **huge**."

Jinx then vanished out the door, leaving her to stand there, staring blankly after the departed girl. Quickly, Nabiki turned back to the mirror, eyeing her reflection critically. She then turned to glare at the empty doorway angrily.

"Yeah... well... well, _shut up_!"

* * *

Left jab, right jab, left cross, uppercut. The punching bag reverberated with each meaty smack of Robin's fists colliding with its leathery surface. He repeated the combination again, and again and again, faster, harder, and faster. He had already been at it for half an hour straight and had long passed beyond the point where he was actually training.

Now all that remained was his anger and the intense need to vent it.

How could he let her escape? The worst part was that he’d **had** her! He’d had her right in his grasp. She wasn't bad, but she wasn't great either. The suit made her dangerous, but she hadn't known how to use it very well yet. If Happosai hadn't interfered...

He jumped back and spun into a brutal spinning sidekick. The entire bag swung back from the impact and the chain creaked out a tenuous warning. As soon as it swung back, a crushing elbow met it and he flowed into a new combination of attacks.

No, Red X, whoever she was, she didn't know how to use the suit fully yet, but that would change quickly. Anyone clever enough to steal it in the first place likely wouldn't have too much trouble deciphering all the systems given some time. And the more she learned, the more dangerous it would get. The worst part was that he knew if they didn't get it back soon, their chances of getting it back at all would decrease rapidly.

After all, he had designed it specifically to take down the Titans. With its power, he had been able to outmaneuver all his friends, despite their superhuman abilities. Their only real advantage now was that he hadn't known Ryouga when he had made the suit. As it was, there weren't any systems intended to take down either of the Titan's resident martial artists.

Of course, if it was Nabiki that had taken it, which all the evidence pointed towards, then she already knew every single weakness that Ryouga might possess. She had been an extremely sharp female, even from his short interactions with her, and he doubted that she wouldn't take advantage of any advantage she could. Heck, he was impressed by her. The fact that a high school kid could outwit and outmaneuver a seasoned team of superheroes... yeah, that one was worthy of a wary respect.

"Oh my, I hope I'm not interrupting." A gentle, nearly musical voice derailed his train of thought. The masked vigilante ceased his near mindless destruction of the punching bag and turned to face Kasumi.

Even after a week, he still had a hard time reconciling the woman before him with the Kasumi that he had come to know. Seeing her dressed for training, dressed in a loose pair of gi pants and a black sports bra under a snug white t-shirt... it was a little distracting. Which was odd, especially considering it wasn't risqué at all, and in fact, more than either Raven or Starfire wore daily.

Maybe it was just the shock of the fact it was Kasumi dressed like that. He chuckled lightly, he had spoken to Ryouga on the subject, and the older boy had said that he had been just as disturbed when he had been subjected to the sight when they had started training back at the Academy. Of course, then Ryouga had started babbling some nonsense about nose bleeds and fainting spells, but he was fairly sure he was just teasing him.

"Not at all, Kasumi. You aren't scheduled for another lesson today though," he said politely.

She nodded, and then walked over to join him. The young woman took a short moment to check his injuries, running a soft thumb over his chin, before turning his head left and right so she could inspect him better. He took it with resigned patience, it had been easy to wave off her ministrations when he hadn't really been hurt, but after the working over that Happosai had given him... Well, he had soon found that she possessed a will that would not be denied.

After a moment, she turned to look at the target of his frustrations and ran a gentle hand down the dented leather surface of the punching bag. "You really shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard. After what Happosai did to you last night, you should still be resting."

He nodded, but then smiled broadly. "I'm fine, Kasumi. You know just as well as I do that Happosai didn't hurt me that bad. He may be a panty stealing pervert, but he is a great master of the martial arts. Sure, I was in a world of pain last night, but it turned out that he had mostly just hit a lot of my pressure points and nerve clusters. He didn't do any actual or lasting damage. Heh, I have to admit though, seeing him go full out like that, it was a pretty humbling sight."

The brunette nodded at his prognosis, though she obviously wasn't happy about it. "Perhaps, but just because you weren't hurt as much as you thought you were, doesn't mean that you shouldn't rest. You're just as bad as Raven, Ryouga and Ranma." A sudden look crossed her face, as she thought about what she said. A small giggle escaped her lips after a moment. "Oh my, isn't that a funny coincidence? Ranma, Raven, Robin and Ryouga, each one just as proud and stubborn as the next."

"Heh, yeah, that is a little funny when you think about it like that," he agreed, smiling widely. His smile dropped a bit, when she turned back to him, a tiny frown on her lips.

"And speaking of that, you might be well enough to train, but Raven is still far too injured to be going out on missions. I would like to know what one of my patients, who is under specific orders not to go on missions, is doing going out on missions," she asked as pointedly as was possible for the poster woman of sweetness.

The leader of the Titans tugged at his collar a bit nervously at that. "Eh heh, well, she wasn't **actually** on the mission. She was just making sure that Ryouga got there, she was only there in a transportation role."

His taller companion considered his words for a moment, before nodding slightly. "I suppose that makes sense, but I would prefer it if you would discuss her situation with her. I know she heals faster than normal, but her arm and ribs were broken quite badly. It will be at least another three weeks before she will be able to remove her casts," she explained calmly.

He shrugged. "Sure, I suppose I can do that. But I thought you said Ranma was only going to need his cast for two weeks at the most. Didn't he have nearly a dozen broken ribs? Raven only had three. I know Ranma is a fast healer, but that much faster?"

"It's not just a matter of that, Raven is actually an amazingly rapid healer, easily on par with Ranma and Ryouga. However, her physical conditioning is much less than theirs. While Ranma had nearly half of his rib cage fractured, his naturally denser musculature held them all nearly perfectly in place. Raven on the other hand, the force of Ryouga's attack nearly pushed one of her ribs directly into her lung. I would just feel much better if she refrained from entering dangerous situations like the one you were in last night." The young doctor in training spoke with a silent conviction that moved him.

"All right, all right, you win. I'll talk to Raven about it. Now, back to my original question, why are you here today? I thought you would be working with Cyborg."

She shook her head slightly at that. "I was, but he is understandably preoccupied with locating both Red X and Happosai. After last night, I believe that everyone has had a change of heart about letting you hunt him down alone."

"I guess I can understand that. But it's not him that we need to worry about. He may be powerful, but he's not really a danger to the city, just an annoyance. Red X is the real threat. She's a dangerous criminal and we **will** take her down," he promised darkly.

Kasumi regarded him strangely for a moment. "I know that you think Nabiki is Red X, but you seem to be much angrier about this situation than that would warrant. Just... just why does Red X make you so angry? To be honest, from what you've told me so far, she hasn't done anything to warrant such anger... yet."

He let out a beleaguered sigh. She did have a point. Whoever this new Red X was, Nabiki or not, the only thing she had done yet was attack Happosai, and he'd been doing that for a week straight himself. No, he wasn't even that mad about the suit getting stolen, though it was a thorn in his side. No... no, it was the reminder of **then** , of what he had done to earn Slade's trust. He had done terrible things then, broke the law, attacked his friends... no, the last thing he needed was some leggy vixen running around reminding him of his own shortcomings and running his reputation even further into the ground.

With that in mind, and suddenly feeling a strange urge to unburden himself, he led Kasumi over to one of the benches that ran down the walls. "Well, Kasumi, it's a long, dark story..."

"Slade, it all started with Slade."


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own Ranma, Titans or DC in general.

Enjoy if you will, Tolerate if you won't.

* * *

Cyborg flopped down onto the long, semi-circular couch that took up the center of the main room. He let out an explosive sigh, mentally exhausted after a night of trying to piece together the puzzle that had been handed to them. On the couch to his left, Raven and Beast Boy sat; Beast Boy was nearly passed out and only Raven's insistent pushing kept him from falling all over her. To his right, Starfire and Ryouga sat, leaning comfortably against each other, and looking a bit sleepy themselves.

"C'mon, Ryo, you know that Nabiki girl better than anyone here, why would she steal the suit?" muttered the Titanium Titan.

Ryouga didn't bother to move from his enviable position, he just swiveled his eyes in his direction. "Well, asides from the obvious, she might be a bit insecure about not having any ability to defend herself. If that thing is as powerful as you're all making it out to be, I don't doubt she'd make good use of it. The only thing that I can't figure out, is why she'd cross paths with Happosai. There have to be better ways to test it out."

With one last shove, Raven sent her emerald tormentor flopping off the couch and onto the floor. She then turned her attention back to the conversation. "It does seem odd. I only met Nabiki for several minutes when she revealed her betrayal of the Headmaster. She didn't seem like the kind of person that would willingly enter personal combat herself. Certainly, if she wanted additional protection, Gizmo would be more than able to create something more suitable to her mindset."

On the ground, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, Beast Boy sat up. "What are you talkin about? That Red X suit is the ultimate. Robin sure pulled out all the stops when he made it, heck, it was even good enough to beat Cy's tech."

Hey now! "Hey, watch it, Grass Stain. I'm still tryin to figure out how he made such an advanced suit. No offence to our leader, but he just isn't that smart. There's something... something key that I'm missing, but it just shouldn't be possible for a suit with no visible power sources to be able to do all that stuff," he explained in annoyance.

The changeling just waved him off dismissively. "Pfft, and I thought **I** was the green-eyed kid. Don't be jellin just cause Robin is the new Techno Wizard of the Titans. You had a good run, dude."

Oh, that was it. "Good run? Good run! Dude, I am the **Master of Technology**! I could design circles around Robin. And Gizmo's tech is at least as good as mine. There's no way that Mighty Midget would resort to stealin **Robin's** tech; either one of us could make something ten times better than him!"

By the time he finished, he was huffing mightily, and all his friends were leaning away from him with nervous looks on their faces.

"Um... eh heh... whatever you say, dude, you're the master... heh." Beast Boy's weak agreement didn't seem quite as sincere as it could have, but he'd take it.

To his side, Starfire and Ryouga disentangled themselves and the Lost Boy leaned forward. "So, what the heck does this suit do, anyway? I mean, if we're going to go after Nabiki, I think I should at least know what it's capable of."

Cyborg flopped back into the couch once more. "That's just it, we don't even know all of it's abilities. Heck, some of the things it can do don't even seem possible. Suffice it to say, if you see a red X comin your way, you'd best be getting outta said way."

Ryouga's nonplussed stare signaled his lack of satisfaction with that answer. Luckily, Raven decided to pick up the slack. "We don't know all of its abilities, but the ones we do know are impressive. Short range teleportation, adhesive attacks, explosive attacks, energy redirection projectiles, wrist blades. I also believe the suit grants and increase in both strength and speed, though not agility. It was designed by Robin, for Robin and it perfectly complimented his fighting style."

This time, Ryouga's nonplussed stare signaled something entirely different. "Oh, is that all... I feel soo much better now."

"Yeah, I know how ya feel. If only our overly paranoid, spiky haired leader would just give me the plans for the suit, I'd be able to figure out what it does, but he don't share nothing he doesn't think he needs to," muttered Cyborg, in disgust.

Starfire sat up at that. "Please, friends. I am certain that Robin has a most exemplary reason for not informing us as to all the capabilities of the Red X suit. We must believe in him, for he too is our friend."

"Yeah, yeah, Star. Big trusting family here, we know Robin wouldn't do anything to hurt us," mumbled Beast Boy, though how sincere his statement was, was a bit in doubt.

A rumble in his titanium stomach grabbed his attention. Hmm, food didn't seem like a bad idea. With that in mind, he hopped over the couch and made his way to the kitchenette. "It's all good, Star. I know that we can take down Red X. I just wish I knew **how** Robin managed to make a suit with all of those capabilities without a ton of supporting equipment to power it..."

Apparently Ryouga seemed to have something in mind as well, as he stood up and flipped over the couch, following him to the kitchen. The martial artist yawned loudly and stretched as he walked. "Feh, you know what? Who really cares? Whether it's Nabiki or not, this Red X girl hasn't done anything worse than attack the Old Pervert, and really, who hasn't done that? I don't know why you're all so worked up over one of Robin's old toys; if it was really that great, he'd still be using it."

That struck Cyborg as strangely true... The Red X suit was incredibly useful. Sure, Robin claimed that it reminded him too much of his time with Slade, but a minor cosmetic change could fix that easily. Was there another, more logical reason that the masked hero refused to use the suit?

"Well, as exciting as all of this sitting around and griping is, I think I should get back to Terra. Hey, whose turn is it to take me back down?" asked Ryouga, looking around the room.

Cyborg quickly lifted his hand and started counting the days on his fingers. Oh, damn! It was Tuesday, that meant he was on Ryouga duty. Man, how could anyone get that lost that easy? He raised his hand further and was about to bite the bullet, when something stopped him.

Said something being the twin glares of Starfire and Raven willing him to silence. Ryouga was staring in his direction, so he didn't see the girls' heated stares behind his back. Rather, Ryouga looked at him quizzically since he had raised his hand.

He needed an out, quick!

"Um... i-it's my turn to make dinner tonight! Yeah, that's it. So you better not spend all night in Terra's cavern **again,** Ryouga. You're a growing boy after all, and you need to eat," he spat out, pretty unconvincingly.

"Sheesh, Cy, what are you, the guy's mom?" barked his best bud from behind the couch.

Ryouga just shrugged, accepting his words at face value. "Fine... just, no pork, right?"

Cyborg rolled his eyes. Fine, cow was good enough. Still, dealing with BB's odd eating habits was bad enough, now he had to make the Tower into a Kosher deli?

"I'll be glad to take you down to the cavern today, Ryouga." Raven's quiet voice floated across the room.

He chuckled to himself, yeah, that wasn't a surprise at all. Those two had been acting awkward around each other lately, they needed to hash things out. He still kind of hoped that she was only interested in him as a friend, though. His conversation with Jinx, so long ago, still echoed in his memory from time to time. Jinx and Ryouga had been crazy about each other, mind control or no, and Cyborg was sure that the Lost Boy was still reeling from that emotionally.

"Hey, thanks, Raven. Come on, we can hit a restaurant on the way and catch some breakfast," offered Ryouga. The guy then turned and headed straight for the closet, totally missing the light blush that formed on Raven's cheeks.

Uh-oh...

A moment later, the depressive duo got themselves sorted out and vanished down the elevator. He could only shake his head in worry.

"Excuse me but do either of you know where Robin is to be located now?" asked Starfire, politely.

He struggled with that for a moment. "Oh yeah. He's down in the gym. I sent Kasumi down to train with him since I'm gonna be too busy tracking the suit today to go over the medical equipment with her."

Beast Boy jumped onto the top of the couch, a dreamy smile on his face. "Heh, talk about one lucky dude. I still stand by my original statement, that girl is an angel."

The sudden surge of red to their resident Tamaranean's cheeks piqued the resident cyborg's curiosity. "Somethin wrong, Star?" he asked innocently.

"No, of course not, friend Cyborg, for what reason do you inquire?" she fired back in a hurried tone.

That only made him more suspicious. Heck, even BB was catching on. The other boy leaned over on the couch towards the girl. "Are you suuuure, Starfire? It sure seems like something is bothering you."

"You are gravely mistaken, Beast Boy! I most assuredly do not believe that Robin is spending far too much time with the Kasumi person. That would be a most foolish and immature assumption for you to make!" The girl's heated denial was followed by a rapid exit, as she literally flew out the window, blushing as bright as the sun.

Cyborg watched the spectacle blankly before turning to face Beast Boy, who wore a matching expression. The younger boy looked back at him, a little embarrassed. "I'm guessing this is the part where one of us says 'but no one mentioned Robin'?"

He could only shrug in response. "Man, we've seen her get jealous before, but over **Kasumi**? I mean, sure, she's super hot and super nice and a great cook and... and..." he trailed off uncertainly.

Beast Boy's head shot up at the sudden revelation. "Umm... dude? You think those worries of hers might not be totally unfounded? I think I'm gonna go after her, see if I can't talk her down," offered the emerald youth. He followed his statement with action, heading for the window.

The Titanium Teen sighed loudly. "Yeah, you do that. I better get started on this scanning stuff."

If Beast Boy heard him, he gave no sign. Instead, the other Titan just dived out the window... hopefully turning into a bird or something before he hit the pavement below. Sure, the guy did that daily, but it always weirded him out, just a bit, to see his best friend jump out of a fourteenth story window in his elf form.

A quick head shake to clear his mind of disturbing and morbid thoughts, and he made his way to the fridge and prepared to get himself a little breakfast to start the day -

A loud beep from his arm mounted communicator nearly made him drop a plate full of bacon on the ground. A quick bout of curses and some dramatic acrobatics saved his meal but ruined his mood. And if he found out that Beast Boy and Ryouga switched his bacon out for tofu bacon again... heads would roll!

His arm beeped again. Oh yeah, incoming call and all that. "Man, this better be good. Don't these people realize that they're infringing on Cy-time?"

He did his best to paste a neutral look on his face and activated the view screen on his arm. The sight he saw, was quite surprising indeed.

"Hey, Sparky! How are things lookin out there at Titans West?"

His neutral expression melted into a genuine smile. A call from Bumble Bee was always welcome.

"Things just started lookin real good from where I'm sittin, girl. How are things goin in Steel City?"

The dark-skinned girl's pretty face broke into a wide smile as well. "Hey now, you know flattery will get you everywhere. And things are actually goin well out here. I just wanted to call you to thank you for all of the help you've given us."

He made a show of scratching his head in mock puzzlement. "Help? What're you talkin about? I haven't seen you since you guys took off. And there ain't **no** way that I'm haulin my butt all the way across the country to help you move into your new place."

The super heroine rolled her eyes in amusement. "You know what I mean, Sparky. I wanted to thank you for designing our tower for us, and for sharing all your vehicle designs with us. With Tatie's financial backing, we're gonna be up and running in a month or two, barring a few... small problems..." she trailed off uncertainly for some reason.

His human eyebrow arched curiously at that. "Small problems? What problems could you have? My plans are fool proof."

As if in answer to his question, the sound of an automatic door sliding open on Bumble Bee's side of the conversation heralded the arrival of a familiar pair of voices.

"Cease thy mad rantings, Chef! I absolutely forbid it; it is unseemly and impractical." Kunou's voice, obviously, rang out across the communication feed.

"Mad rantings? Oh, come on, Kunou. I'm just saying that we should open an Okonomiyaki restaurant on the ground floor. There isn't even anything there in the blueprints, it's wasted space," came Ukyou's (also obviously) reply.

Bumble Bee let out a sigh of resigned patience, while he struggled to hold in his laughter. "Does that answer your question? Man, it was bad enough with Tatie wanted to call us his "Kunou's Angels"! Now Baker Brain wants to open the first floor of our top secret and highly secure facility to the public as an eatery!"

He couldn't help himself, he just had to laugh. Man, why hadn't _he_ thought of that? There sure was a lot of wasted space in Titans Tower. Maybe if they leased out some space, him and Beast Boy could bring in a little extra money and, oh, pimp out the T-car or something...

The loud ring of spatula meeting head cut through his laughter quick. A moment later, the communicator that Bumble Bee was using was plucked from her unresponsive fingers and a new, though equally pretty face filled the screen. "Baker Brain! Well let's see who's laughing now, concussion girl. Hey Cyborg! How are things goin with you? The Lost Boy isn't causing too much trouble, is he?"

Cyborg smiled nervously, only partially secure in the knowledge that this cutely smiling engine of destruction was thousands of miles away from him. "No way, Ukyou. Things are goin fine here, just some super villain troubles. Nothing we can't handle though."

"That's great! Hey, Cyborg, since you're all second in command and stuff, can you tell these guys what an advantage it would be to have a restaurant running out of our tower? I mean, from a public image standpoint alone, we'd be doing great!" she prattled on excitedly.

Again, his reply was interrupted as another hand descended on the communicator. This time there was a small tug of war, but eventually a new face filled the screen. This one wasn't very pretty at all, he thought glumly.

"There will be **no** common eatery within the noble walls of the new and illustrious Kunou Towers!" Kunou barked at the girl, before turning his attention to the communicator. "Please, excuse my companions, noble contemporary. I would ask you a question, though."

Cyborg shrugged, suddenly quite happy that Kunou was taking care of the construction effort on the East coast. The thought of having to go over there and help them in the building... it secretly terrified him. Not even all the relationship trauma going on around him could possibly be as bad as what Bumble Bee was dealing with.

"Um, sure. Ask away, buddy."

Kunou nodded sharply. "I would ask if there have been any reports of my sister since last we left your company. I spoke with Saotome back in Japan, but she has not yet returned there to torment him, as deserving as he is."

Oh yeah... he'd completely forgotten about that. Which was a kind of jerkish thing to do. Forgetting that a guy's sister had gone missing, right after a major catastrophe... at least Kunou seemed to be handling it well. "I'm sorry, man. No one's seen her since we all escaped from the Hive Academy, just before it blew. We know she made it out with everyone, but no one remembers seeing her at all after that tornado thingy went off."

Kunou nodded again, though this time with a hint of melancholy softening his features. "I thank you, my friend. I am certain that she is unharmed, though I would be more at ease if I knew where she was. But enough on that. I wish to reiterate Karen's thanks to you. You're plans and designs have been most helpful to our cause."

Suddenly, the aristocratic young man looked away, to something off screen. He then looked back, a hurried look on his face. "Unfortunately, I must bid you adieu, as a certain **commoner** is currently in to process of altering said plans and designs!"

Then, without a further word, the communicator flashed to black, effectively ending the communication. He stared at his arm for a long moment, counting his blessings silently. He... he was sure that Bumble Bee was alright. They wouldn't drive her mad... would they?

Nah, she was a tough girl, she could handle them.

"Still, looks like the grass is definitely greener on **this** side of the fence."

* * *

He wasn't trying to drive her mad... was he? She stared uncertainly at the bandanna clad boy's back as he led them to Terra's cavern. Well, perhaps 'led' was a strong word for what he was doing, but a few flashes of ebon energy here and there managed to keep him on the right track. Maybe he needed blinders, to stop getting distracted, or maybe a chip implanted in his brain, or something like that?

Of course, all she needed to do to fix the problem, was just pick up her pace and start walking beside him, but a few flimsy reasons were preventing that. First, was the fact that she was in civilian clothes, since Ryouga had suggested that they go for breakfast together. She admitted, now, that perhaps she had been more eager than she should have been when he had made the offer. And frankly, the navy-blue blouse and knee length black skirt, while fashionable, didn't exactly lend itself to flying over crowds.

That tied directly into the second reason. Ryouga walked **fast**. Obviously, a life on the road hadn't accustomed the boy to enjoying a leisurely stroll with friends. And since she was limiting herself to walking as well, due to her thrice-cursed apparel, she was having a bit of trouble keeping stride. Not that she minded the view from her current position...

She shook her head harshly, banishing that rather random thought. No, no, nonono! She had already been over all of this in her head, with Starfire, even with Ranma. She could not afford to let herself get involved in such a way with anyone. It was bad enough that she had friends in the first place, considering her destiny, but something told her that taking that extra step would be an extraordinarily bad idea.

For that matter, even if she could get involved with someone, Ryouga had been sending off such mixed signals to her for the past few days, that she had no idea where he even stood on the matter. At times, he was almost randomly forward, such as asking her out to breakfast this morning... or at least that was how she viewed it. But other times, he became unbearably uncomfortable around her for no reason, like the incident last night, when she had been flying him across the city.

The breakfast had been enjoyable too; she had chosen a quiet little bistro that she frequented in her free time. She had enjoyed a light meal of tea and some fruit, while Ryouga had... what was the term, 'bulked up'? They had engaged in some small talk, a little on the pointless side, but pleasant. The fanged boy had even covered the entire bill, despite her rather meager protests. Overall, she would have called the situation promising.

But then the boy completely flip-flopped on her! As soon as they started walking again, he seemed to get lost in thought. Honestly, the way he was right then, she wondered if he even noticed that he was leaving her behind? She didn't even have the courage (why was Bravery never around when Raven needed her?) to ask him what was on his mind. It seemed like a fifty-fifty chance to guess what he was thinking about. The first thing, of course, was Terra. Which made sense, considering where they were going.

Of course, there was an equal chance that he was thinking about Jinx. And that was the reason she couldn't ask him. As much as she disliked thinking about it, she knew how he felt about the vanished sorceress. Though she had a hard time understanding why. Jinx had abandoned him when he had needed her the most. It was Raven that had been there, that had fought by his side against the Headmaster. Well, her and Ranma, but he didn't count.

She let out a small sigh. Yes, without even trying, Ryouga was driving her crazy, just by being himself.

Her train of thought was derailed, when she nearly walked right into the human wall's back for the second time in as many days. She prepared an acidic glare and a biting comment reminding him about her earlier threat, but then he turned to face her, a serious look on his face. Absently, she noticed that they had arrived at the entrance to the cave which led to Terra's cavern.

"Raven, can you tell me what Terra's name means?" he asked cryptically.

Her entire angry rant flew out the window at that. What an odd question, and so seemingly random. "What do you mean, Ryouga?"

He stared at her intently. "Well, I was just wondering if her name meant something in another language. Or if it signified something about her, like Cyborg, or Beast Boy."

Hmm, an interesting direction he seemed to be taking, but then, almost any direction he chose ended up being extremely interesting she bet. "In Latin, the word terra literally refers to the earth itself."

At that, Ryouga began to walk down the tunnel again, though more slowly. He nodded slowly to himself as he went, apparently mulling over her answer. "Yes... that's what I thought. It is very fitting..." he muttered, more to himself than anyone.

She almost wanted to ask him if something had occurred to him when he suddenly turned on her again. This time, though, she didn't nearly walk into him. Again, his intense stare seemed to pierce her soul. Why did he have such amazing eyes? Starfire had gone on and on about Mousse's eyes, but frankly she didn't see the appeal herself. Ryouga's were just so deep and soulful...

"Raven, can you tell me about Terra?" Another cryptic request.

She stared at him oddly. "Didn't Beast Boy already tell you everything about her? Why would you need me to tell you about her?"

He shrugged absently. "I'm not sure, actually. I just feel that if I know more about her, it might help. Maybe you got to know a different side of her than Beast Boy. Maybe you might have some key piece of information that can help me, that he didn't."

She nodded, even though it didn't really make sense to her. How would knowing her better help him reverse her petrification? Didn't his knowledge of the Bakusai Tenketsu tell him what he needed to know? Still, he seemed interested in knowing, and it was certainly an improvement over the silence they had been walking in.

"I'm... not really the best person to talk to about Terra. We never got along, even before she betrayed us to Slade. The two of us did nothing but argue and snipe at each other," she admitted, a bit sadly.

Ryouga nodded slowly. "You two must have been very different."

A small smile formed on her lips at that. "We were, but I believe it was actually our similarities that caused so many of the problems between us. The two of us, we both shared the burden of power, the endless struggle to contain and control it, lest it hurt those around us. I think that you and Ranma might be beginning to understand at least a small part of that, after... the Academy..."

Her companion didn't even bother to answer. Instead, he only nodded again, a slightly haunted look in his eyes as he recalled the event. Despite all his training and skill, for just a moment, just a fraction of a second really, his power bloomed beyond his ability to control it. And the result was the destruction of an entire cathedral, though that was quite minor compared to what it could have been.

It was at that moment, she liked to believe, that he had come closer to truly understanding her than any of her friends could ever hope to. True, that had been an extreme case, but it was something that people like her, and Terra lived with on a daily basis, except the consequences of their failure would make the Lost Boy's slip seem quite minor indeed.

"Terra never had particularly good control, though she tried so hard. I never gave it too much thought, but perhaps that was one of the reasons I never liked her. She shared my burden, but never seemed consumed by it, like I am. I spend so much of my effort to maintain my control, that I have become... somewhat socially inept..." she stated, a touch ironically.

A gentle hand on her shoulder brought her gaze up to match Ryouga's. A sympathetic smile was given to her, free of charge. "I'd hardly call not laughing at Beast Boy's jokes socially inept. That's only common sense, really."

Her weak smile grew slightly at his support, and his touch. "Thank you. But, as I was saying, where I was withdrawn, Terra was alive. She enjoyed every small thing in life, she reveled in the idea of helping people with her powers. She even laughed at Beast Boy's jokes..."

"Heh, well, no accounting for taste, I suppose. But then, it sounded like she brought the best out in our little shape changer," he said.

"If only that had been true for all of us. I was so... so jealous of how happy she was, that it blinded me. I didn't see how hard she was struggling, just below the surface to control her power. Maybe, if I had been more supportive, rather than so suspicious of her, she wouldn't have fled to Slade..."

Ryouga's grip on her shoulder tightened slightly, but not painfully. His control seemed to be as excellent as always, and she didn't even feel the need to recoil anymore. She knew how much that her reactions had been affecting him but getting the image of his snarling face out her dreams was not as easy as she wished it would be.

"You can't blame yourself for that. Trust me, if anyone can understand her desire to run away from her problems, it's me. But one thing that I've learned, after a lifetime of running from my own demons, is that no matter how much I blamed other people for my problems, it was **always** my choice on how I lived my life. Admittedly, like Terra, I made a lot of stupid choices and hurt a lot of people, but I have no one to blame for that but myself." He paused for a moment and looked to the side in thought. "And Ranma, but most everything is actually his fault anyway."

She didn't know if he was serious about that last part or not, but a small giggle escaped her lips, a giggle! Raven did **not** giggle! Rather than dwell on it, she decided to push past it and bury it. "Maybe, but I find I have a hard time blaming Terra, either. She was frightened and alone; it was Slade that came in and took advantage of that. He offered the one thing that she had always wanted. Imagine if someone offered you a cure for your curse, or to make certain that you never got lost again..." she asked quietly.

"I... it would be very tempting..."

"But even turning her against us wasn't good enough for Slade. Even though she followed him willingly, he took advantage of her trust with a cruelty that I had only ever attributed to my father before. He tricked her into wearing that vile suit, used it to control her actions, nearly forced her to kill Beast Boy," she spat, still horrified at the scene she had stumbled into when she and her friends had arrived at this very cavern so long ago.

He nodded, a grim look on his face. "Beast Boy mentioned the suit, said that it did something that let that bastard control her..."

"Yes, it was sick. The suit assimilated into her skin, forming a neural link. From what Cyborg learned of the technology, he doubted that she would ever have been able to remove the suit without crippling herself," she explained darkly.

Rather than comment on the cruelty of the suit, the Lost Boy suddenly looked down, walking on blindly, lost in thought. "Assimilated into her skin...?" he muttered to himself absently.

It struck her as odd, why did he find that so interesting? "Do you think you've found a way to help her?"

"I'm... not sure... Last night, just before Robin called us back... I felt like I was on to something... something – something fundamental. I just wish I could **remember** what it was!" he growled in frustration. A moment later, the two of them looked up, to see that they had finally arrived at Terra's cavern. It had seemed like a remarkably short walk, but she supposed the conversation had been somewhat deep.

"Thanks, Raven. I'll call you up again, when I want to come back to the tower," he said amiably.

She looked at him oddly. "Perhaps I should stay? I might not have your specialized knowledge, but I have learned a lot about ki and energy from Cologne. I might be able to help you."

He nodded. "Maybe... but I think I have an idea where I'm going now. If you stay down here with me, it would... distract me," he admitted.

She felt a small blush forming on her cheeks, thankful for the poor lighting of the cavern. She was about to reply, when-

"I mean, no offense, but your aura is huge. I can barely even see any of the breaking points around here with your energy filling the cavern."

An icy claw pulled the blush from her face. Her aura was **huge** , was it? Why, the nerve of that boy! Well fine then, if she was such a **huge** problem, then she **would** leave. "Hmph, if that's the way you feel, then I'll leave," she replied in a huff.

With forced calm, she twirled around, her skirt flaring out daringly, and started stalking back up the way she came. She ignored the strangled protests of the Lost Boy, who seemed to catch on to what exactly he had said and left him in the dank cave.

How could any boy possibly be that clueless? She would hardly call herself a normal person, but she was still a woman. And he hadn't even complimented her on her outfit, considering she had picked it out just to go out with him. She glared down at the offending piece of material that kept her land bound.

She was only glad that she was the only empath in the group. She was pretty certain that she was maintaining her composure on the surface and acting normally for the most part. But if any of her friends realized just how off she was thinking on the inside, because of Ryouga's presence...

He wasn't trying to drive her mad... was he?

* * *

Robin shot up from his dreamless slumber. The Tower's obnoxiously loud alarm was blaring, yet again. God, it was days like this that he wished he had vacation time. He looked over to the clock beside him.

Oh, for crying out loud! It wasn't even midnight yet! He wasn't even planning to wake up till one in the morning, so he could have a good crack at catching Happosai. With some grumbling and bumping around, he grabbed the communicator from his nightstand. As an afterthought, he also grabbed his eye mask and carefully placed it over his sensitive eyes. Appearances had to be maintained, after all.

"Cyborg, what's the situation?"

"Reports are coming in about a fight between a midget and a skeleton. I think it's pretty obvious who's out there," came the larger Titan's reply.

He nodded in disgust. "Get everyone together and let’s go."

With that, he deactivated the device and threw it onto his bed. He looked over to his closet, deciding which of the dozen perfectly identical suits he would wear that night. Really, Red X was out flaunting her ill-gotten gains, for a second night in a row?

She was just **trying** to make him mad, wasn't she?

* * *

Happosai was starting to get mad. Here he was, perhaps the greatest martial artist on the planet, and he was being thwarted by some adolescent female. And it wasn't even Ranma this time! Of course, he wasn't trying to defeat her or anything, women were weak and defenseless after all and needed to be protected. No, what this spandex clad girl was doing was much, much more reprehensible than simply imparting physical violence on him.

No, he had been battling her for twenty minutes now, and had **yet** to get a good grope in!

The indignity of it all. How was he supposed to thoroughly enjoy himself, not to mention replenish his ki, if she wouldn't let him cop a little feel? He even had a technique picked out to purloin her undergarments, despite her skin-tight body suit. The ancient master cackled happily; he couldn't wait to see the look on her face when he pulled **that** one off!

He spun his pipe again, blurring it to speeds that most aircraft propellers would envy. The small wind funnel he produced blew the adhesive red projectiles away and into a nearby parking lot. He didn't envy those overnight parkers the mess they had to clean up come morning.

"Ha! You'll have to do better than that, sweety. Those sticky attacks might be useful against someone of Robin's caliber, but they won't help you against me," he gloated wickedly.

He leapt into the air, angling himself for Red X's lithe form. The nimble girl dove to the side, barely clearing his attack in time. His pipe crashed into the asphalt, destroying a small area of the city's infrastructure.

Indeed, those adhesive X's were a useful gadget, but not a real weapon. As soon as she fired them, they began to lose cohesion, so they were easily deflected by a simple gale force wind.

Red X rolled to her feet several meters away and spun to face him again. Immediately, the girl raised her hands, palms forward and fired off yet another salvo of X's at him. He nearly sighed at the girl's predictability; he really didn't understand why Robin considered this purloined suit to be dangerous at all. It didn't seem to be able to do very many things at all.

With bored ease, he spun his pipe again knocking the useless projectiles away like the last batch-

 _Wait_! He nearly missed it over the sound of his own attack and the sound of the first dozen projectiles splattering away! The deadly whirring sound of a metallic blade flying!

He looked forward, just in time to see the lethal crimson X cutting through his wind tunnel, not slowing down in the least. Instantly, he cut off the ineffective defense, a small smile forming on his lips. The girl was learning.

It was too late to dodge, so with a flick of his trusty pipe, he casually defl-

Happosai snapped back to consciousness a fraction of a second later. A cursory examination seemed to place his smoking body embedded into the wall of a nearby building... very, very nearby now.

"Oh, wow. I'm sorry, Grandpa, I didn't think it would do that!" yelled his annoyingly sarcastic attacker. Once again, she stared at her hands, apparently in awe of yet another newfound ability.

"Heh, heh, heh. It's been a while since I've been exploded. But I think we've had enough fun; it's time for me to claim my prize!" The masked girl didn't even have time to react when he exploded from the wall. The flimsy brick and mortar shattered around him, trailing him like a comet's tail as he flew. His only hint of Red X's shock was the shocked widening of her mask's eyes.

His hand shot out, viper-like, in search of his - hopefully lacy - prize. His cry of victory, though, turned into a gasp of shock. Just as his hand began to touch the zipper of the costume, Red X vanished! He flew wildly; it took him three whole tenths of a second to reorient himself and land safely on a nearby mailbox.

How had that happened? She had just vanished under his fingertips. No one was **that** fast, and he should know, he had battled some of the fastest people on the planet!

He looked back to the street, to see Red X, standing several yards from where he had seen her last. The girl was wavering slightly, pressing a palm against her forehead; appearing to fight off the signs of dizziness.

"You are just **full** of surprises, little lady. I can't remember the last time I've fought someone so unpredictable. I almost don't want to beat you down now, if only to see what you'll pull out next," he said, praising her excitedly. She might not be a great fighter, not even in Robin's league, let alone Ranma's, but she had a variety in her tricks that even that blind Amazon boy would kill for. He was also starting to think the suit was giving her a bit of a bump in her strength and speed, since her physical conditioning and skill level didn't seem to mesh with the acrobatic feats she'd performed so far.

"Ugh..." She let out a quiet cough before continuing. "Soo glad to know that I'm entertaining you. It's just a matter of time before I learn enough to take you down, Old man. Don't you worry about that," she muttered weakly. Apparently that hyper speed trick of hers took more out of her than she had anticipated.

"Maybe you will, maybe you won't. Far, far better than you have tried and failed, sweety. However, I think it's time to finish things for the night." He advanced a step in her direction, flexing his nimble fingers excitedly.

"Oh, it's over all right."

The grand master let out a sigh of annoyance, as the familiar voice flowed from the darkness above them. Both him and Red X looked up, just in time to see Robin drop from a nearby rooftop. A moment later, the orange skinned alien girl dropped from the sky, landing beside the small boy. Behind him, a large figure landed on the ground with a mighty crash. A green blur landed beside the armor-clad giant and reformed itself into a green skinned boy. Then, a disturbance in the air to his other side heralded the arrival of the demonic Titan. She rose from the ground in an ebon shroud, and when it parted, it revealed Raven and Ryouga, both glaring at him dangerously.

Red X took a few steps closer to his position. "Um... you don't suppose that these guys are all here to catch you... do you?" she asked, perhaps slightly nervously.

He looked to the six Titans again, as they spread out to surround the two of them more fully. Ryouga and Starfire were assuredly glaring at him, but everyone else seemed to be mostly glaring at his latest dance partner. "I'm afraid not, girly. Whatever you did to tick these kids off, it must have been quite the doozy."

An explosive and distorted sigh burst through the girl's mask. "I didn't think so. So, how about a temporary truce? I'm sure the two of us together could get away from these kids."

He nearly laughed at the suggestion, seriously considering it for a moment. Offering to team up with the person you were just fighting, now that took some nerve. "Heh, I'm afraid not, my lovely young maiden. I can get out of here fine myself. And I'm sure these kids will be coming after me sooner or later, I don't want to give away any of my tricks too soon. Besides!" Suddenly, he leapt high into the air, angling himself for the roof of the five-story building a few dozen yards away.

"Consider this **advanced** **training**!"

* * *

Robin glared heatedly at the masked villain that had stolen his greatest failure as a hero. The six of them surrounded the young women completely. Even with the short-range teleportation abilities of the suit, she would have a hard time getting away without a fight. If she were as canny as he thought, he suspected she would head for Beast Boy and try to outmaneuver him. That's what he would have done, after all.

"Surrender, Red X, **now**! You aren't getting any more warnings," he barked out threateningly.

The masked girl stared at him for a moment, then turned to regard all his companions. Almost agreeably, she began to nod to herself. "I'll admit, things do look a bit... unpleasant at the moment, but I'm sure we can talk this out like civilized people, can't we?"

Screw the witty repartee, this ended here.

"Titans **go**!"

As one, Robin and his six teammates charged the villainess. He drew out his bo staff, Ryouga drew back his fist, Cyborg and Starfire started glowing with azure and emerald energy, Beast Boy charged ferally while Raven simply glided in.

When suddenly, Red X raised her hands into the air.

What the... was she surrendering? No, it was obviously a trick! Even as his friends pulled up in confusion, he continued forward. As such, he wasn't surprised when she suddenly swung her arms down, a pair of X's shooting into the ground at her feet and bursting into expanding clouds of thick, red smoke.

He cursed again; he should have seen that coming! It was what he would have done if he had been in her position as well. He quickly pulled his breather mask from his belt and put it on, even as he ran to where she had been standing.

A sudden yelp from his left told him that she was no longer there. "Dudes! I'm totally stuck to the gr-mmph!" The changeling's cry of warning was cut off abruptly.

"Raven! Disperse the smoke!" he yelled as loudly as he could, hoping she would hear him.

A moment later, and a wave of black energy filled his vision. It retracted again, almost instantly revealing the street once more. He spun around quickly, to find out what had happened. There, on the ground to his side, Beast Boy was covered in adhesive red material. Ryouga was nowhere to be seen; he better not have gotten lost already. Damn, his direction sense was a massive liability!

"There!" Starfire's shout drew his attention to her. The pretty alien girl was pointing down the street, to the fleeing form of Red X. He didn't bother barking orders to anyone, all he could do was give chase. Behind him, he heard Cyborg stop to help Beast Boy.

Raven and Starfire flew off past him, he hoped they would catch the thief in time. All Red X needed to do was find an alley, and she would likely vanish for the night.

And, just as he feared, Red X did just that. He cursed loudly as the black clad form of the criminal came up to the nearest alley and ducked in like a black flash -

Only to stumble in shock, when almost immediately, Red X rebounded out of the alley, landing painfully on her bottom. He staggered to a stop, not quite sure what to make of it, when suddenly Ryouga took a step of the alley! The fanged martial artist glared down at the prone figure of Red X, cracking his knuckles ominously.

"Oh, please, Nabiki. The old smoke screen trick didn't work when Ukyou tried it. You should know better than that," bragged the fighter mercilessly.

Red X stared back at him for a moment. "You're right, I should know better. Of course, if I were Nabiki, then wouldn't I know about **this**?" In a flash, crimson blades shot out from the girl's gloves and she swiped fiercely at the fire hydrant that she had nearly landed on.

"Oh, crap...," was all the poor fool had to say, before the horizontal geyser of water engulfed him and sent his now significantly smaller form flying back into the alley.

With that, Red X flipped back up to her feet and ran around the spraying hydrant and began sprinting down the street.

Only to collide with a wall of ebony force. Red X spun again, quickly avoiding Starfire's right hook, as the three females entered close combat.

Robin began running again, he trusted his two friends implicitly, and they had progressed a lot over the past months, but that suit had been designed to take them down specifically.

Ahead of him, Starfire and Red X started fighting back and forth, even as Raven floated around looking for a good angle of attack. The black clad girl had retracted her wrist blades, and the two were exchanging rapid kicks and punches. It was obvious, that with the suit’s help, Red X was faster and naturally nimbler, but Starfire was definitely the stronger of the two.

Starfire blocked a kick easily with her forearm and fired back with a rapid jab. Red X just narrowly slid out of the way of the attack, turning her torso to the side. Then, with criminal grace, she grabbed the Tamaranean's extended wrist and, using all her weight, suddenly dropped, and slid between Starfire's legs. The move was so unexpected, that Starfire actually bent over as Red X dragged the girl's arm with her.

Suddenly the grounded girl's hands flashed back and forth from Starfire's arm to her legs, and when Red X rolled away, Starfire's left arm was hopelessly bound to both of her legs but several adhesive bands. A second later, as Red X jumped to her feet and started running, the bands contracted, pulling Starfire's legs together and trapping her arm between them. The alien girl flailed helplessly with her free hand for several seconds, before crashing painfully to the ground.

He winced at the painful crash but continued running. If Raven could hold her for a few more seconds, he would catch up.

Rather than run away, Red X ran directly in Raven's direction. She jumped into a flying kick, aimed directly at Raven's chest. The dark Titan simply raised a black dome over herself, essentially making herself immune to Red X's attack. Robin smiled at that; he knew he could count on Raven -

Except that instead of bouncing off the black dome, Red X landed on it and slammed her slim hand against its black surface. Instantly the black force field split open before her, revealing Raven's shocked face! Before the Titan's sorceress could even react, Red X thrust her other hand through the opening, aimed directly at Raven's chest.

Robin pulled out an explosive disc, he couldn't let Red X hit her ther-

Red X's hand hovered over Raven's chest for what seemed like an eternal moment, very nearly caressing the girl, then suddenly shot up to her face. A second later, a wide X shot out of Red X's hand and wrapped around Raven's entire head. Instantly, the remains of the ebony shield dissolved away, and Raven collapsed to the ground, clawing at her covered face.

Robin roared in anger! "Raven!"

He flew into the air, leveling his own flying kick at Red X. Predictably, she teleported just out of range and appeared several yards away. Robin landed harshly and slid back to Raven's side, glaring angrily at the thief the whole time.

"Well, what's it gonna be, Robin? Chase down the lovable prankster or save your friend?" she asked casually.

He growled furiously, even as he pulled out a birdarang and leaned in to carefully begin freeing Raven. Luckily, she calmed down at his touch, rather than continue to thrash around.

"You just crossed a line, Nabiki. For what did to Raven, I'll never forgive you. You are **going** **down**!" he promised her.

Red X stared back at him, tilting her head curiously. He couldn't read her expression, because of that damned mask, but something seemed odd about her reaction. A second later, when Cyborg's angered yell could be heard coming in their direction, Red X turned away.

"Whatever, Robin. Goth girl shouldn't have been out like that anyway. I'll see you when I see you." That said, Red X leapt into the air and pressed the button on her belt buckle.

Only to land on the ground again, as the belt sputtered angrily. Robin cursed mentally. The suit was running out of power! All he had to do was reach out and grab her! But... but Raven was still in his arms, and if he wasn't extremely careful in cutting away the material covering her mouth and nose...

Damnit!

"Oh heck!" Red X cried, hitting the belt hastily, even as she turned and began running down the street. Several hits later, Robin could hear the belt energize again, and Red X vanished once more. He glared after her angrily for several moments...

Until an insistent arm began tugging at his sleeve. He looked down in shock, to see Raven waving at him, only slightly frantic, considering she hadn't exactly been breathing for a minute at that point.

He glared at Red X's last location for one last second, before he leaned in and carefully began to cut away the red goo covering Raven's mouth.

"This isn't over, Nabiki..." he swore softly.

"Not by a long shot."


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own Ranma, Titans or DC in general.

Enjoy if you will, Tolerate if you won't.

* * *

Starfire did her best to ignore her grumbling companions, as she gazed longingly at the back of her very closest friend. She disliked, very much, seeing him in such a state of self anger... again. Even though he wasn't injured, the proud young man wore a pained expression. He stood ramrod straight, staring intently at the elevator door as they rode up to the Tower's main room. It would have been obvious to anyone, not just his closest friends, that he was no longer cool and detached. She could see the muscles in his jaw clenching tightly as he tried vainly to contain his emotions.

An odd thought struck the Tamaranean girl, this all seemed eerily familiar for some reason... Almost like they had just gone through this not too long ago-

"DAMN!"

Robin's yell broke the uncomfortable silence, as the young man slammed his fist against the elevator door. The sudden outburst caused her to jump. She wanted to reach out to her friend, to comfort him somehow, but he had been inconsolable ever since Red X had made her escape.

She had been partly responsible for letting Red X escape as well. If only she had not let herself be tricked so easily... perhaps Robin would not be so angry now. Starfire turned to regard the rest of her friends, all of whom seemed to share Robin's sour mood.

To her rear, Beast Boy, Raven and Ryouga filled the back of the elevator. Beast Boy was somehow managing to pace angrily in the small space that he had staked out as his own. Red goo still clung to his hair and would likely need to be cut out... again. Beside her, still caught up in his adorably cute, cursed form, Ryouga stood, his face an angry red. The only thing that seemed to be stopping the tiny terror from venting his fury was the young woman he cradled to his chest. Raven lay in his arms, only her nostrils and mouth visible through the red mask that covered most of her head. Her breathing was controlled, but shallow.

The flame haired alien briefly considered reminding Ryouga that Raven was perfectly capable of seeing, even blindfolded as she was and didn't need to be carried... but then discarded it out of hand. Not only did it fit nicely with her most devious and underhanded plot of making matches, but his presence seemed to calm her friend. Even though she was no longer in danger of suffocating, Starfire imagined that Raven must have been fairly shaken up by the experience.

Beside her, Cyborg was busily reading a series of readouts on the view screen mounted on his arm. The small screen was showing a stream of data that he had collected during their brief skirmish with Red X. How much said data would help, that was anyone's guess.

The near silent swish of the elevator doors opening heralded their arrival to the main room. As a group, they trudged out into the room. Unsurprisingly, Kasumi was awaiting their arrival, she had taken to the habit of awaiting their return from missions in case of any injuries, a most wise precaution. The young woman sat at the kitchen counter, a cup of tea to one side, a tall stack of medical texts on the other.

Apparently their most recent entrance was not nearly as explosive as their last; it took the older girl several moments to realize they had returned before she turned to greet them.

"Oh my!" Kasumi's shocked cry was not shocking in the least. Starfire could very well imagine what her companion's and herself must have looked at that very moment. Raven incapacitated, Ryouga cursed, Beast Boy covered in goo and Robin ready to explode... it was likely not a pleasant sight to witness.

"What happened to you all? What happened to Raven?" Kasumi asked, worry and concern battling for dominance in her voice.

Rather than answer her, which was odd considering Robin's respect for Kasumi, Robin ignored her completely. It was rude, but a small, small part of Starfire rejoiced at the gesture.

"Ryouga, lay Raven on the couch. I have the formula for the solvent in my lab, I'll prepare some and bring it up," ordered the masked youth. Ryouga simply nodded and moved over to the semi-circular piece of furniture. However, for some reason Beast Boy's head shot up at the statement.

"What? Solvent? Why didn't you get some of that out when **you** were Red X, instead of makin Star massacre my hair to get it out the first time?" growled the emerald shape changer.

Robin simply glared at Beast Boy. "I don't have time for this. I'll be back in an hour, make sure Raven's airways don't get blocked again." The Titan's leader then spun quickly on the ball of his foot, his cape flaring out angrily, and he stalked out the nearest exit.

Beast Boy grumbled loudly to himself, muttering various angry comments about Robin, but did little else.

"Please, tell me what happened here," Kasumi asked again, her voice straining slightly.

Cyborg crashed onto the end of the couch, a few feet down from where Ryouga had gently deposited Raven. "Red X happened... Man! I can't believe she **beat** us!" he barked angrily.

"Please, friends. The Red X, she did **not** defeat us, she merely escaped us. I am most certain that had her actual goal been to battle us, that we would have defeated her easily," she pleaded with her friends. She disliked seeing the rest of her friends grow angry with themselves as much as she disliked Robin doing so. Her words did not seem to be having a noticeable effect though.

Ryouga snorted loudly. "It sure felt like a loss to me. I mean, there were **six** of us! How could she get past us all?" The young, young boy rapped a heavy knuckle against his head. "If it wasn't for this **damn** curse, I would have had her."

"Pfft, at least you **saw** what happened to you," spat Beast Boy. "I got taken out like a rookie on his first day. Dudes, **how** did we let her **play** us like that?"

Starfire felt her heart drop as her friends looked at each other sullenly, until a new voice broke the silence. "We underestimated her. None of us believed that Nabiki was capable of standing against us, so we let our guards down," Raven stated, though her voice was slightly muffled by the red material that surrounded her lips.

They all stared at the girl and she saw her friends begin to nod slowly in agreement. Until Ryouga suddenly hopped off the couch, annoyance on his features. "Damn, this is getting repetitive! Weren't we just arguing about Nabiki yesterday? There's gotta be something better we could... be... doing?"

Ryouga's question trailed off uncertainly, his annoyed expression melting into a confused one. Slowly, the boy made his way to the kitchen. The sound of running water heralded his return to near adulthood and the now uncursed boy rejoined them. The uncertain look on his face remained however, only hardened with age.

"You know, I only really had a chance to see her for a second, before she soaked me... but something seemed off about Red X. For just a fraction of a second, I sensed her aura. It – it felt familiar, but dark, twisted somehow. You don't think the suit is doing something to her, do you?" Ryouga asked, sounding slightly concerned.

Cyborg seemed to consider the question for a moment. "I... man, I have no idea how that suit works, but I can't imagine it would have any kind of effect like you're talkin about. Robin wore the suit, and it didn't bother him at all."

Raven nodded shallowly from her position on the couch. "If I had possessed the training then that I do now, I likely would have been able to see through Robin's ruse immediately. However, I never sensed any gross corruptions in his spirit in the times before or after he wore the suit." The girl paused for a moment, her head tilting to the side in consideration. "Though you are correct, I too only had a fraction of a second to focus on Red X's aura. What I felt was familiar, but not familiar... how did you put it? It felt... twisted?"

That seemed to bring Ryouga up short. A far away look entered the boy's eyes and he looked out over the bay to the city outside the window. Then the boy asked a most unusual question, his tone of voice almost absentminded in its detachment.

"When was the last time that anyone saw Kodachi again?"

* * *

The door opened before Robin, revealing the Main Room once more. All his friends were still present, Cyborg was plugged into the main computer, Starfire and Ryouga hovered over Raven and Kasumi and Beast Boy sat together on the kitchen counter, the young woman trying vainly to clean the gunk from his hair.

He looked to the tiny red vial in his hand, he hoped it would be enough, he couldn't make any more. As soon as he entered the room, everyone began to look in his direction. Rather than address them, he simply walked over to Cyborg and handed him the vial. "This should dissolve the material on Raven. Be careful with it, anything that isn't removed will need to be cut out and I can't make anymore," he explained quietly.

Cyborg eyed him curiously for a moment, then nodded and moved over to Raven. Robin turned to join him, only to find Beast Boy in his face. "Well, dude, where's my bottle of that solvent junk? How the heck am I supposed to get this goo outta **my** hair?"

Robin stared back at the boy, eyeing him seriously. Slowly, he reached behind his back and into his utility belt, as soon as he found the item he was looking for, his hand flashed out...

Revealing a pair of scissors.

He handed the scissors to the glowering Beast Boy, a small smirk forming on his lips. "I'm sorry Beast Boy but saving Raven's face is more important than saving your hair. And like I said, I can't make any more, I used the last of my reserves to make that and I'm not even sure it will be enough."

The changeling glared at him heatedly for a moment, before snatching the shears and stalking back over to Kasumi, muttering the whole way. The younger boy then settled in, as Kasumi prepared to give him a very severe hair cut.

Cyborg looked up curiously from his work, carefully applying the solvent with a medical swab. "Used of your last reserves of what? What could be so hard for you to get more of?"

Robin considered his friends question for a long time. Cyborg and Starfire were the only ones that seemed interested in the answer, Ryouga was too busy worrying over Raven, Beast Boy was still cursing about his hair and Kasumi was busy cutting said hair. Still, it was something he had never planned to tell them, and he knew that none of his friends would take it well. Still, he had to trust his in them; his lack of trust was what had led to the creation of the Red X suit in the first place. It felt somewhat ironic that this second occurrence of Red X should remind him of that.

"The base of the solvent is a very rare element; it's also the same element I used to power the Red X suit..."

Cyborg's human eyebrow rose in interest, it was obvious that he had been struggling with this very question ever since Robin had first created the suit.

"Xenothium, I used Xenothium to fuel the suit," he muttered in a low voice.

Starfire gasped loudly in shock. Beside her, Raven nearly sat up, a sharp gasp of, "No!" on her lips. Ryouga just looked across the room to Beast Boy and shrugged his shoulders in complete ignorance. Beast Boy returned the blank look, before crossing his arms over his chest in annoyance. He followed it with a disgruntled whine.

"Aw, man, I never understand **anything**!"

It was, of course, Cyborg's reaction which was the most predictable. " **Xenothium?** You powered that suit with **Xenothium** Are you crazy, man? That stuff is dangerous—and unstable! Tell me you were not stupid enough to go messing with it!"

Robin ground his teeth slightly in frustration. "Like I said, it was a mistake," he bit out sharply.

Suddenly Cyborg raised his hand to his chin, a look of inspiration lighting his features. "Xenothium... That explains how you could generate so much damn power... just a small quantity would..." The boy trailed off for a moment in his contemplation. "The **belt**! That was the power source..."

Suddenly Cyborg spun on him, clawing the air angrily. "Do **not** tell me that that entire dang **belt** was filled with Xenothium!" Robin could only look away in shame. He had realized what a risk it was when he had made the suit, but he had been so blinded by his obsession that he had ignored it completely.

Cyborg took his silence as consent. Immediately, the much larger boy spun around again, clutching his cybernetic skull in disbelief. "Man! Are you **nuts**? That's enough Xenothium to level half the city if it goes critical! What in the name of all that is holy in this world were **you** **thinking**?" bellowed the massive teen, still flailing in disbelief.

Back on the couch, Ryouga turned to Starfire and commented very conversationally, "Oh... so that's why he doesn't wear it anymore." The alien beauty didn't even register the boy's comment, still staring at him in shock herself.

Robin's shoulders slumped. "You think I don't know that? Why do you think I've been so determined to get it back? However, as bad as things look right now, we're actually very lucky at the moment."

Starfire stood slowly and moved toward him, wringing her hands in worry. "What do you mean, Robin? Our beautiful city is in a terrible amount of danger now. If for some reason the Xenothium were to detonate..."

A weak smile formed on his face at that. "If the Xenothium were to detonate now... not much at all would happen." He allowed a moment for everyone's shocked and confused reactions to pass. "The Red X suit is nearly out of power. I estimate that the suit only has a few more hours of power left at the most, and considering how volatile the power supply is, it's performance will probably get more unpredictable the longer it runs," he explained. It wasn't great news, but it was good news.

"Hey, that's great! All we gotta do is wait for the suit to run outta juice then. Sure, Red X will get a few last kicks in, but then problem solved. And the best part is, we don't even gotta lift a finger," cheered Beast Boy, whose hair was very nearly goo free by that point.

Cyborg shook his head at that. "No way, BB. If this actually **is** Nabiki in that suit, then she'll probably have Gizmo trying to find more Xenothium for her already."

That struck Robin as an odd statement, not the part about finding more Xenothium, but rather the uncertainty about Nabiki. He thought it had been well established that it had been her by this point? She had the motive, the opportunity, the access to technical expertise. She also possessed the knowledge of Ryouga's curse and the mile-wide devious streak to pull it all together. Why would they be starting to doubt that now?

Be that as it may... "Cyborg's right. Gizmo will be scanning for Xenothium, probably already is scanning for it. We have to find any possible sources before they do."

"X isn't the only one with a scanner," stated Cyborg. The larger teen then reeled a cable from his chest panel and plugged it into the computer. "I'm downloading the molecular signature and transmitting to your communicators."

Robin shook his head at that. "Thanks, but I won't need it. I already know where to look first."

Starfire stated at him in confusion. "But, Robin, how will you find the Xenothium without a scanner?"

"The same way I found it last time." He paused for a moment and looked over his comrades. Ryouga was carefully using the solvent to continue freeing Raven from her molecular confines, since Cyborg had started ranting. It looked like he would be at it for some time as well. Starfire had a nasty set of scratches on her perfect face, from when she face planted into the road. Cyborg was still downloading the signature to his friend's communicators.

He let out a long, tired sigh. "I want everyone to take the rest of the night off to recover. I don't care how good Gizmo's scanners are, Xenothium is extremely rare. The only person I know that even handles the stuff is Professor Chang. I'll go cover that angle myself tomorrow. Cyborg, you can use the time to calibrate the scanners in case that angle doesn't pan out, instead of us all running out half cocked tonight."

Starfire looked at his, slightly worried. "Are you certain that is wise? What if Red X is to find a source of Xenothium before us?"

He shook his head to dismiss her worries. "Don't worry Star, Nabiki is good, but she's still new to this, there's no way that she would even know who Professor Chang is. That gives us a large advantage to finding anything before her. And giving Cyborg more time to fine tune the sensors will only help us out in the long run as well."

His closest friend finally smiled, confident in his decision. He smiled back and dropped a comforting hand on her shoulder. He hadn't spent nearly as much time with Starfire lately as he would have like to... maybe he would ask her to train tomorrow before he went after Chang.

"But first, let's get that cheek looked at."

* * *

Cyborg smiled at his progress with the scanner. He had spent all night and most of the morning on it, but he was certain that in a few more hours, and if he sent his team mates to strategic locations, he'd be able to blanket most of the city in one fell swoop. Robin had made a smart move letting him take his time like this. If they had just ran back out again last night, their communicators would have only been able to sense Xenothium within several hundred meters. Pretty much a needle and haystack scenario right there.

"Excuse me, Cyborg, I hope I'm not interrupting you," came a pleasant voice from behind him.

He spun around in his seat, doing his utmost to appear as casual about it as possible. He smiled the most confident and mature smile he could manage, in the face of the lovely young woman that stood before him, her hands clasped together in front of her. Ryouga had mentioned that Kasumi preferred older, more mature men after all.

"Not at all, Kasumi, how may I assist you this fine morning?" he asked suavely.

Her giggle rang like little angelic bells in the morning sun. He sure hoped he didn't make himself look like a shmuck here, it was a long shot, he knew, but he was fairly sure that he wasn't **too** much younger than her.

"Actually, I was hoping that we could continue with my medical training. We have been putting it off a lot lately, due to this little Red X problem," she said, tilting her head to the side cutely.

His almost knee-jerk reaction was to agree immediately. He had come to enjoy his time with her quite a lot, and the times when he was teaching her were some of the few times that he got to interact with her without Beast Boy around to cramp his style. However...

"Man... I'd love to, Kasumi... but I have to work on this scanner thing." He gestured to the screen behind him. Displayed on the screen was the scanner information, as well as a map with several locations that he had marked as having a high probability of possessing Xenothium, just based upon the kinds of work they did. S.T.A.R. Labs was one such building, and he had thrown Professor Chang's observatory up there, since Robin had mentioned it. He planned to check those two places first when he sent his friends out.

The stunning Japanese girl nodded in understanding, though she did look a bit disappointed. Absently, he fantasized that she was disappointed about not getting to hang out with him, but then dashed the daydream quickly. "Don't you worry though, as soon as this whole Red X thing is outta the way, then I'll make it up to ya, big time," he assured her.

Kasumi smiled brightly at that, which made him smile again as well. "That sounds lovely, I look forward to it. But... what should I do today then?" she asked.

He scratched his head at that. He'd love to ask her to help him here, but there was a world of difference between his med tech and the tech he was using here, she'd likely just feel like a third wheel. "Um... you could go train with Robin again."

She shook her head slightly. "He's training with Starfire now. I'm afraid that she's much more skilled than me, I'd only hinder her training," admitted the Tendo girl.

He nodded absently; Starfire was Ryouga's pet project. It was no surprise that she was progressing rapidly. "Hmm, you could always go chill out with Ryouga; I don't think he's up to anything."

Again, she shook her head. "Ryouga and Beast Boy went down to Terra's cavern early this morning. I would hate to disturb them when they are bonding; those two haven't spent much time together lately."

He looked at her a bit strangely for a moment... but then let it drop. Only Kasumi would be concerned how much her friends were hanging out together. "Well, then you and Raven could... could... Hey! Ya know what? Why don't ya take the day off? You could head up town and do some shopping or something, I'll give you the account card that Robin gave me," he offered desperately.

Kasumi considered his generosity for a moment. "I couldn't possibly impose upon you like that. I'm still your guest here, that would be terribly rude of me."

He just shook his head. "Naw, don't worry about it. Robin gives these cards out to everyone in the tower, there's a low daily limit, to make sure we don't go crazy, but you are a member of the team now. I'll remind him to set up an account for you later as well."

She stared at him hesitantly, as he ejected said card from his arm and offered it to her. "Are you sure that this is alright? I wouldn't want to get you into trouble with Robin."

He gently took her hand and nearly forced her to take the card. He knew that Japanese people were polite, but this was ridiculous. What girl refused a free shopping spree... asides from Raven? "No, it's all good, now please, go; enjoy yourself." With that he rather brazenly placed his hand at the small of her back and gently began to shepherd her to the elevator. He allowed a small smile to form on his lips at the fact that she didn't object to his gesture.

When the reached the elevator, Kasumi turned and beamed him a brilliant smile. "Thank you very much for your generosity, Cyborg. I think that I will go into town today..."

"There is something that I need to pick up."

* * *

Now, to the many people that knew him, it would be a fair and frankly, quite honest statement, to say that Ryouga Hibiki was an irritable kind of guy. To be fair, Ryouga Hibiki had several very valid reasons for this, as well as several completely petty and in some cases, completely unfounded reasons. Asides from a specific and pigtail wearing boy, who will remain nameless, most people were relatively careful to avoid angering him.

Unfortunately, his current companion did not appear to be one of those people.

Ryouga idly wondered, if his first major act as a superhero was to brutally murder one of his teammates in cold blood, just what kind of irony would be used to describe it? Not that Beast Boy was actually **trying** to make him angry, but the younger boy's constant chatter about video games and movies and girls, and a dozen other things that Ryouga had next to no experience with, was starting to wear thin after the sixth hour in.

Did Beast Boy not **want** him to save Terra? Because, at this point, he was further away from remembering what he had almost stumbled across the other night, than he had been before he had even thought of it in the first place!

"Dude, I so cannot wait for you to bring Terra back," babbled the young man. Apparently, Beast Boy was running out of things to talk about and was coming full circle to his earlier topics. Hmm, maybe it would make him that much easier to tune out so that he could get some actual work done. "Yeah, I had so much fun with her. We got along great, from the very first minute we met."

Ryouga stopped his irritated pacing and sat down in front of Terra's statue, doing his best to ignore the boy behind him. He stared up at the stone girl, silently mouthing a prayer for her to save him. "I know it sounds corny, but I think Terra and me could have really worked out in the long run, just like you and Raven," continued the changeling in his endless spiel.

Ryouga shook his head in boredom, would this boy never shut u-

"What?" he barked in disbelief. He spun to gawk at the boy behind him.

Beast Boy gawked back at him. "What, what?"

"What about me and Raven?" he asked seriously.

Beast Boy shrugged, suddenly looking a bit embarrassed. "Um, nothin I guess. I just figure that you and Raven make a good couple. You two got a lot in common, dude."

He stared at the younger boy oddly for a moment. "Beast Boy, Raven and I are **not** a couple. I nearly **killed** her; I'm still just working on being her friend. Besides, I'm still not sure I'm completely over Jinx yet..."

It was Beast Boy's turn to stare oddly back at him. "What? Why are ya worried about her for? She totally ditched you, man. Raven was there for you, heck, she's here for you now. Why would you wanna moon over some girl that's gone, when you could probably get something going with someone that's actually here?"

He let out a long sigh, he'd like to just state angrily that Beast Boy didn't understand, but unfortunately there was a monument roughly six feet to his rear that stated otherwise. "It's not something I can just turn on and off like a switch, Beast Boy. Besides, Raven can't even stand it when I touch her, how could she possibly think of me like that?" he asked in a tired voice.

His companion just snorted loudly. "Dude, you might have gotten to know that girl a bit, but **I've** known her for years. She is so totally into you, you just aren't seein it. Heck, I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that outfit, she wore out with you yesterday. I've never even **seen** her dress up to go out before; I didn't even know she **owned** any real clothes!"

He shrugged dismissively at the boy's wild claims. "You're reading too much into things. And since when is my love life of interest to anyone?"

Beast Boy smiled wickedly at that. "Dude, inquiring minds want to know!"

Ryouga could only wave off his friend's crazed mutterings. "Just how many boulders did Cologne smash your head against back in the village anyway..."

"Absolutely no one cares who I end up with."

* * *

Starfire and Cyborg chatted amiably while they washed the dishes. Robin and Raven had already long vanished and none of their other companions had even returned for the midday meal. Starfire let out a wistful sigh at the thought of a very certain pair of her friends. "I do hope that our dear friends, Raven and Ryouga can once again become romantically involved. They make a most wonderful relationship unit."

Cyborg turned to regard her immediately, a look of surprise on his face. "What do you mean 'again'? They never got together in the first place. Besides, Jinx was absolutely crazy about the guy, I'm sure she'll be back for him soon enough."

Suddenly, the water in the sink began to bubble around her hands as she turned to glare at her companion with emerald glowing eyes.

"You make that sound like a **good** thing..." she trailed off menacingly.

Cyborg just matched her gaze. "What if I am?"

In this confrontation, the only real winners were the dish manufacturers.

* * *

Akane leaned back on the porch, enjoying the setting sun. She giggled lightly, the breathtaking sight putting her in a strangely romantic mood. She stared idly at the boy sitting on the grass to her side, a few tools strewn about him. She decided to try subliminally planting a few ideas in his head.

"Ryouga sure is a lucky guy, being in such a wonderful relationship, don't you think?" she asked slyly. She knew any subtle undertones would fly about a mile over his head, but that was part of the reason she lo- umm liked him so much.

Ranma just nodded absently, as he picked up a wrench and began adjusting some part or another on his new motorcycle. "Yeah, I guess he is pretty lucky to have a girl like Jinx. She's really dedicated to that guy."

That brought her up short. "What? That hussy? I was talking about Ryouga and Raven. Those two belong together," she stated forcefully.

Ranma just snorted. "Humph, not if I got anything to say about it," he muttered, nearly under his breath.

What had that jerk meant by that? How could he possibly think a villain like Jinx was better for Ryouga than a sweet and pretty girl like Raven? Now her good mood was completely forgotten. Leave it to her insensitive fiancé to utterly ruin the moment.

"Ranma!"

* * *

Happosai sat lounged back on his pile of stolen lingerie. In an oddly sentimental mood, he fondly remembered two of his favorite students. He remembered the fun he’d had teaching both, and how far they had progressed under his training.

"Ah, yes. Ryouga and Jinx would make a wonderful pair," he murmured fondly.

* * *

Cologne sat lounged back in her imported leather chair. In an oddly sentimental mood, she fondly remembered two of her favorite students. She remembered the fun she had had teaching both, and how far they had progressed under her training.

"Ah, yes. Ryouga and Raven would make a wonderful pair," she murmured fondly.

* * *

Jinx looked up from her hand and glared at Nabiki. "I'll take three cards. And would you give it up already? I told you, Ryouga belongs to Raven now."

Nabiki dealt her the three cards, before returning her glare. "Did you get brain damage when you jumped into that tornado? You and Ryouga would make a much hotter couple!"

Around the table, Mammoth, Gizmo and Kyd Wykkyd just shrugged and threw in their chips. As much as they loved them, these two girls were plain crazy.

* * *

Ryouga nearly doubled over in a sneezing fit. Angrily he waved his hand around him, dispersing the dust particles that hung in the air. When he finally recovered, he glared at the laughing form of the emerald teen behind him.

"I don't remember it being this dusty before **you** started hanging out."

* * *

Robin dropped to the catwalk as silently as death itself. Nor did he produce a single sound as he stalked around the interior of the massive observatory. Down below him, nearly hidden by several haphazardly placed crates, containers, and equipment, was the target of his search.

Professor Chang was an older man, wearing an oversized biohazard suit. He was also completely clueless to Robin's entrance. The masked boy smiled grimly, he wasn't sure whom he should thank more for his greatly improved stealth, Cologne or Happosai. He took another soundless step forward... then stopped suddenly.

Something seemed... wrong. The room looked to be in rough shape, almost like a fight had taken place. A sudden sinking sensation in his gut, he jumped onto the railing and leapt towards the shady merchant, all worries of stealth forgotten.

He landed with a quiet thump, but just enough to alert the nervous scientist. Immediately, Chang reached out to his side and grabbed a long, staff like weapon. The end of the forked device began to glow dangerously as he spun in Robin's direction. The Boy Wonder wasn't in any mood for playing though, so he simply snapped the weapon in half with a lighting fast snap kick. He then snatched the flying half out of the air and pressed it against Professor Chang's neck, pushing the old man into the stack of crates behind him.

"Professor Chang. Remember me?" he whispered dangerously. Up this close, the Professor was much less easy to look at. The man had snaggled and yellowed teeth and wore a strange breathing device in his nose. At least the top of his face was completely covered by a pair of large goggles.

Professor Chang looked back at him, before gathering his wits once more. "Ah. The good little boy who likes dangerous toys." The old man giggled in delight. "How could I forget?"

He decided to cut to the chase. "Xenothium. Where do you get it?"

Chang smiled wider at his question. "Nowhere. Suppliers skipped town months ago. That stuff—there's no way to get any. Unless…"

"Talk!" The masked hero was tired of playing games. He pressed the weapon harder into the man's throat.

If Chang was intimidated, he hid it well. Instead, he continued in that highly amused tone of voice. "There's a tech company on the south end. Legend has it that they keep a generous supply of Xenothium ore in their vault. But it's not for sale—and it's locked up tight. You'd have to **steal** it," drawled the old man, obviously amused with himself.

"Not interested." With that, he threw the galling pseudo criminal to the ground and began to walk away. "But I know someone who is."

Behind him, Professor Chang began to laugh, slightly manically, even as he rubbed his throat. "Yes, yes, I imagine you **do** at that, boy. In fact, as you can see, she was already in to see me. Lovely young woman, absolutely stunning. And what an interesting suit she wore. I wonder, just what kind of recklessly brilliant mind would think to power a suit with _Xenothium?_ " the man asked leadingly.

Immediately, Robin spun back to the man and grabbed his lapels harshly. He then lifted the man to his toes and slammed him back against the boxes. "What did you tell her?" he barked out angrily.

The deluded old man never lost his gruesome smile. "Nothing I didn't tell you. Of course, she seemed to be in quite a rush. She's likely breaking in at this very moment, if she hasn't stolen the Xenothium already, that is."

Robin didn't even bother tossing the man to the ground this time. He turned and fired his grappling hook into the ceiling, cursing himself the whole time, and flew out the massive opening in the roof. He didn't have any time to lose! He pulled out his communicator, even as he flew.

"Titans! I know where Red X is going to attack, I'm sending coordinates!"

* * *

Cyborg jumped up from his seat at the main computer and cursed loudly. The coordinates placed the location that Robin indicated near the south end of town. It would take him forever to get there, even in his beautiful baby! Regardless, he spun around and made his way to the elevator.

Raven rose from the couch, wincing gingerly as her chest brace dug into her side at the motion. Her arm was still strapped to her chest by the techno-sling and didn't help her rise at all. "It will be faster if I fly us there. Let's go."

He held up his hand defiantly at that. "The heck you are. Kasumi ordered you to stay in the tower after what happened to you yesterday, there's no way that you're goin on this mission."

Raven glared at him angrily. "Kasumi doesn't give me orders, I don't care how well intentioned. We have to capture Red X at all costs."

He nodded. "And **we** will. Robin backed up Kasumi one hundred percent; he was there when he saw you nearly get shot right in the chest. Do you have any idea what would have happened if you had?" he asked seriously. Silently he pressed the elevator button and started counting the seconds in his head. "Listen, I'm not gonna argue with you, so instead, I'm gonna slip into the elevator and ditch you while you sputter angrily!"

And he did just that, as the elevator slid open behind him precisely when he calculated it would. Instantly he slammed his finger onto the close door button, even as Raven began to float after him, sputtering angrily. He knew he was going to pay for that move later, but hey, it was for the girl's own good... that and it might get him a little more into Kasumi's good book.

He just hoped he lived to enjoy it.

* * *

Robin landed on the rooftop of the tech company Professor Cheng had told him about. He was wary of a trap, but his gut told him that Red X hadn't waited for him. A quick check of his communicator revealed that Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Ryouga were all en route, but that it'd be a few minutes before any of them arrived on the scene.

He spat out a small curse. He couldn't afford to wait for them; he had to stop Red X before it was too late, if it weren’t already. Decision made, he made his way to the edge of the roof. Several stories below was the main research branch of the company, covered by a massive domed roof. Even from the distance, he could see a small opening had been cut into the very center of the roof.

Cursing again, he leapt down to the dome and sprinted for the opening. It was obvious now, that Red X was already there. With hardly a thought, he jumped through the opening, just catching the edge with his grappling hook as he fell through. He could only hope that Red X hadn't already come and gone. Who knew what Nabiki would be able to do if she got her hands on the amounts of Xenothium that were available here? God only knew what her plans wer-

Damn! His hurried pursuit came to a screeching halt, as he suddenly found himself at a crossroads. Quite literally for that matter, he dropped to the ground after a hurried descent, only to find himself standing in a massive circular chamber with four obvious exits.

If he chose the wrong one...

If only his teammates were here, at least then they could cover all the exits! He let out a sigh of impatience. He just had to go with his gut and hope for the best. Hopefully, everyone would arrive soon, and they could cover the other paths.

Robin spun around quickly, and at random picked the exit that he hoped was right. He sprinted through the door and found himself running down a grayish hallway. The hall ran on for several dozen meters before his chase ended.

He nearly let out a laugh of relief. Standing before him, open wide, was a massive security door. Beyond the door was a long hallway which curved around, so the end wasn't even in sight. His relief was short lived though, as the entire length of the hallway, from ceiling to floor and from wall to wall, was literally packed with crimson laser beams. The fact that they were visible like that told him that if he came into contact with them, setting off an alarm would be the least of his worries. What on earth was a company like this doing with such a deadly line of defense?

Still, it was obvious that Red X had made it through unscathed, so he had to go through as well. With that in mind, the Boy Wonder took a deep breath and shook out his limbs. One slip up and it was all over, luckily, he never slipped.

With one last deep breath, he ran forward and began the arduous process of tumbling through the lasers.

* * *

Starfire landed gracefully in the large circular chamber. This room seemed to be where Robin's last coordinates were, before his signal had been lost. She stared around in indecision. She had no idea which way Robin had gone. Wherever he was, the building was obviously too well shielded to allow his communicator to work.

Perhaps she should await the arrival of her remaining companions. Before she had entered the building, she had seen Cyborg's vehicle arriving in the parking lot. It seemed unlikely that he would be too far behind her. As well, she did not believe that Beast Boy and Ryouga were far off either. They had come directly from Terra's cavern and had had the least distance to travel. Unfortunately, as quick as Ryouga was, he lacked both the ability to fly and the ability to drive, so he was forced to leap across the rooftops.

No, Robin was already here, and likely in peril. She could not afford to await the rest of her companions. Her only option was to make a guess as to which direction to go. She spun quickly in mid air, and flew towards a door, at random.

She found herself wandering down a grayish corridor. The entire facility was eerily quiet, not a sound was to be heard. It was slightly heartening, since she could not hear combat, but the dead silence was somewhat unnerving as well. Now she wished that she had waited for Cyborg.

A sudden sound drew her attention! It had come from down the corridor ahead of her. It had been faint; the sound of a shoe scuffing the floor, but it had been enough. Perhaps she had found Robin already! With that in mind, she flew down the corridor in pursuit of the sound.

Just ahead of her was a junction; she could see a shadow play across the far wall of the left branching hallway. She poured on more speed and flew on to investigate the disturbance. A moment later, she turned the corner, expecting to see Robin, Red X, or both...

Who she saw was neither!

"Who-who are you!" she cried in surprise. Her only answer was a spray of blue liquid...

. . . and then she knew no more.

* * *

Cyborg lowered himself through the opening in the roof with the winch located in his arm. After the longish descent, he found himself standing in the middle of a massive circular chamber. The room had four obvious exits, but no markings of any kind to tell him where each one led.

He let out a minor curse. His scanner had shown this to be the last known location for both Robin and Starfire, before he'd lost contact with both. Damn, this place was obviously protected from outside signals and such, an intelligent precaution if they were doing research into something as dangerous as Xenothium.

Still, that left him with only a twenty five percent chance of choosing the passage that would take him to Red X, if she were still even here...

According to his scanner, Ryouga and Beast Boy were pretty much right on his heels. They'd likely be here in a minute themselves.

Hmm, you know what... he was fairly sure that one more minute wouldn't hurt. He'd just wait for his two friends to join up with him; then they'd have a way better chance of finding either Red X, Robin, or Starfire. Besides, Robin and Starfire could take care of themselves, so there was no need to charge off after them half cocked.

Decision made, he lifted his right arm up and started to tinker around with his scanner. Maybe he could figure a way to cut out the buildings interference and locate his friends. A few moments later, and a small beeping sound told him that he had met with partial success, as his scanner picked up a signature not far from his location.

"Hey, wait a minute... Why the heck is there a Xenothium signature right behind me?" he cried in shock. Instantly, he spun around, converting his arm into its sonic cannon configuration, and brought it to bear on whoever was behind hi-

A blinding flash of red light was the last thing he saw.

* * *

Ryouga and Beast Boy dropped to the floor easily, only to find themselves in the center of a massive circular chamber. The two of them looked around, counting the four exits to the room.

"Damn, which one do we take?" muttered the Lost Boy.

Beast Boy ran a hand over his chin in thought. "Man, knowing our luck, whatever one we pick will be the wrong one. Dude, if only there were just two exits, that way we could let you pick which one to take. Then we'd automatically know that was the wrong one and we could take the other one."

Ryouga glared at the younger boy and just barely fought back the urge to club the guy across the back of the head. The fact that his friend had sounded completely serious didn't make it any better.

"Shut up! Look, the obvious choice is for us to split up, if we take two doors, that doubles our chances of finding someone else," he explained carefully.

Beast Boy eyed him warily, perhaps wondering if he had lost him mind. "Umm, dude, you want me to let **you** wander around by yourself? No offence, but unless Red X is gonna make a break for Siberia, I don't think that's a good idea."

Immediately, Ryouga grabbed his right wrist with his left hand and forced his clenched fist back to his side. "That's _enough_ about my direction sense, thank you. Look, it's not great, but I still have my communicator, as long as I have it, I'll be able to tell if I'm getting too far away from you guys. Now let's go, we have no idea what Red X might be doing." It was true for the most part as well, splitting up was the best way to increase their odds.

Of course, normally he would **never** offer up such a suggestion, but at this point, he would give **anything** to get away from Beast Boy's incessant chatter, even if it meant getting lost in Zimbabwe again.

He didn't give his companion any more chances to argue the point either. A single leap took him to one of the exits and he started sprinting down it as fast as his legs would carry him. He wasn't overly impressed by the facility's drab, grayish walls, but at least it was a nice change from the stone walls he had been staring at for the past few weeks.

The sound of Beast Boy's cursing faded into the background as he continued to run down the corridor. After several more moments, he finally slowed down to a walk, he didn't want to **actually** get lost in Zimbabwe, but if he kept running like that, who knew what would happen? He took the moment to open his senses to the world around him. Maybe if he could pick up on Starfire's unique ki, he could follow it to her.

Of course, by choosing that very moment to tune into his surroundings... he was completely unsurprised when a shadowy figure jumped around the corner ahead of him and started unloading a stream of thick, red liquid right into his face!

* * *

Robin exited the end of the laser trapped corridor, sweating lightly from the exertion. It appeared his ordeal wasn't over with yet though, as set into the ground before him was a massive shaft that sank down into the ground.

Carefully, he stepped to the edge and looked down the wide, circular tunnel that led down to the lower levels of the facility. The drop was at least fifty feet and a glowing white force field hung between him and the facilities bottom floor.

He let out yet another sigh, as he hooked his grappling hook to the ledge and leapt down again. Using his grappling hook to slow his fall, he reached behind his back and pulled out an Electro-magnetic Pulse bomb. It wasn't something he used often, especially when Cyborg was present, but it would short out the force field instantly.

He threw the device down below him, even as he slowly descended to the force field. The EMP grenade hit the shield and bounced several times before a series of beeps and a high-pitched whine heralded its activation.

Rather than explode, the device just gave off a sound like a dull 'thud' and suddenly all the lights within two stories died, taking the force field with them. A second later, the device landed on the floor with a ring of metal.

He joined it a moment later. He took a moment to retrieve the weapon before he started running down the hall. His next destination wasn't far away, though, as the corridor opened into a large square room before him. This room took him by surprise. The entire floor was covered in black tiles that looked suspiciously like sensors. At least they would have, if the entire floor hadn't looked like it had been torn apart by a massive laser weapon.

He made that last guess since there was a massive laser weapon collapsed in a heap on the floor, sparking dangerously and with several cables still running to the ceiling, apparently from where it had been hanging. It appeared that Red X had already dealt with this obstacle for him; he'd have to thank her with a light prison sentence.

At the far end of the room, was a massive vault door, also hanging open. Beyond the door, he could see a massive storage room, with dozens of circular doors adorning the walls. He couldn't see anyone through the door, but he could hear movement coming from the room.

Robin made his way across the ruined floor of the laser room, moving as silently as he could. Several moments later, he slid up to the side of the large vault door and peeked around the corner and into the room.

There! He nearly sighed in relief. Red X was still there, the girl was loading several small tubes of Xenothium into a larger yellow containment device. Her movements were precise but hurried. Obviously, she was expecting company any moment. He smiled to himself vindictively; it would be a shame for him to not live up to her expectations.

With casual ease, he swaggered through the doorway and leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. Red X still hadn't noticed his entrance, which he found to be a very amusing piece of irony. "Looks like you're getting ready for a long trip. Do you need a hand packing your things?" he asked casually.

Instantly Red X spun around to face him, a startled gasp escaping her mask. "Heh, of course, I don't think they allow their guests to bring suitcases full of Xenothium with them to prison," he finished snidely.

Red X composed herself quickly; then leaned back confidently, resting a hand on her hip. "Oh, Robin. I was expecting you to drop by earlier. I suppose that children like you have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, though."

The masked Titan let the rather weak insult roll off his back like water. "Give it up, Nabiki. You can't escape this time."

"And what makes you think you can stop me all by yourself?" she asked in an amused tone of voice.

This time he did smile a very malicious smile indeed. "I made that suit, remember, I know what it can do. I also know that I'm a way better fighter than you. In fact, now that you've lost the element of surprise, I doubt there's anyone on my entire team that couldn't beat you in a straight up fight," he explained eagerly.

The girl's eye slits narrowed dangerously at his words. "Strong words, kid, considering I outmaneuvered your whole team just last night. I suggest you make like a good little boy and walk away right now," she replied.

His smile only widened at that. "Or what? You'll spank me? Face it, X, you're out of your league here. Now just surrender, before things get ugly."

Red X nodded slightly. "I am out of my league... for now, but that will change with time. Of course, for that to happen, you need to get out of my **way**!" Instantly, the girl kicked the yellow containment unit up into her hand and charged right at him. She raised her free hand in mid run and started firing whirring red X's at him as fast as the suit would allow.

He ducked and dodged around the projectiles, then quickly pulled out his Bo staff and used it to deflect the rest. Luckily, not even Red X was foolish enough to use explosive weaponry in a vault filled with Xenothium. He then charged in to meet her, his weapon flashing back and forth in an intricate pattern of attacks. The girl flipped back out of reach and fired several adhesive shots at the ground, trying to catch him again.

He nearly chuckled; instead, he just flipped over the sticky floor and pulled out a fan of birdarangs. He let the weapons fly, even before he landed and chased them in. It was Red X's turn to dodge frantically, the girl extended the wrist blades of her free hand and used it to deflect the three razor edged weapons.

She finished just in time to swing around and catch his Bo staff in the crook of her wrist blade. She held him back steadily, her augmented strength more than a match for his. She then lashed out with a rapid kick. Rather than break off, he used her strength against her and lifted all his weight up onto his staff and rose into a perfect handstand, balancing perilously on the girl's wrist.

He smiled widely at the shocked look on the girl's face. She didn't even have time to retract her arm, before he swung down into a massive double kick directly to her chest. The attack landed home with a massive crunch and it sent the girl skidding across the floor to slam into the heavy metal of the wall. The containment unit skittered off to the side, as she lost her hold on it.

Robin dropped into an aggressive stance then, his left hand held horizontally before him and his staff held ready behind him. He was prepared for her next move. He didn't care what she did when she sprang back to her feet; there was no way she was going to surprise him again...

Except... except she wasn't springing to her feet. In fact, Red X had curled up into a fetal position against the wall, clutching her chest and breathing in ragged, pained gasps.

Oh, hell...

" **Please** tell me that isn't the first time that anyone has actually hit you..." he trailed off uncertainly. Suddenly a very unexpected feeling hit him, the insidious tendrils of guilt and embarrassment wormed their way into his soul. He had forgotten that Nabiki wasn't really a fighter, she wasn't conditioned to handle pain like him and his friends were...

The girl couldn't even answer his question; all she could do was whimper as she struggled to draw in breath. He winced at that; he'd obviously knocked the wind right out of her. He knew what an unpleasant experience it was to suddenly feel like each breath might be your last. Of course, he was more than used to it, but he had a feeling that the Tendo girl before him was rather new to the experience.

He shifted out of his combat stance, suddenly feeling like a bit of a heel as the girl drew in another long, wheezing breath. The poor thing was practically shaking, and he could just feel the fear in her shaky gasps. Were... were those tears soaking through the mask?

Ah, hell...

Either Nabiki was the greatest actress in the history of the world and he was about to be in a world of pain... or he was about to give comfort to the enemy... Why did neither of those alternatives sound like something that an intelligent, rational hero would ever consider?

With a loud sigh, he took a step forward and reached out his hand to comfort the panicking girl, when-

A flash of red light filled the room behind him! Instantly, his world dissolved into pain and he crumpled to the floor, only inches away from Red X, who was still huddled against the wall. He turned his head, struggling to stay conscious every second, to see what was happening.

He wondered if his pain rattled senses were failing him... as several bizarre looking beings entered to room. To his agony laced brain, it looked like the march of astronauts strolling on the moon. A few men, each wearing bulky hazmat suits, entered the chamber and started to open the small storage bays, one after another. In each of the small bays, was a canister, just like the one Red X was filling earlier. The men removed every single one, handing them back, from one pair of hands to another, before they closed the bays again behind them.

Still fighting the pain, Robin tried to drag himself towards one of the men, but he could barely even get his muscles to respond at all. Then, a pair of booted feet came to stop, just before him. Robin felt a shiver of terror run down his spin, as the space suit clad man pulled a lunchbox-like piece of equipment from behind his back. If he knew his villains, then this was likely an explosive device... and he could still barely move a muscle! Without a word, the man simply set the device on the ground before him, then turned and followed the rest of the men as through the exit, carrying the remaining containers of Xenothium with them.

With a groan, he forced himself up to his elbows. "The Xenothium!"

His attention was suddenly grabbed, though, as the box before him flashed to life. He prepared himself for the inevitable blaring red countdown, when-

"Yes. And I do so appreciate it," sounded a familiar voice.

"Chang!" Robin gasped in shock. The petty arms merchant's face filled the tiny screen of the device the man had placed before him.

Chang's wicked smile filled most of the screen, as the man continued to speak. "Since you two were doing the break-in, I decided to cash in. I'm sick of selling to bad boys. I'm ready to be one. And now that I finally have enough Xenothium to power my disintegrator cannon, I can be very, very bad."

As if to prove his point, Professor Chang then pointed to his side and whoever was holding the camera swung to reveal the massive tarp covered telescope that Robin had jumped on when he had entered Chang's observatory earlier that night. Or at least, that was what it appeared to be, until a pair of the suit clad men tore away the off-brown tarp to reveal the monstrous disintegrator cannon that dwelled beneath.

Almost immediately, Robin dropped back into his stock hero dialogue. "I won't let you get away with this!"

Chang only smiled wider at his empty words. "Oh, I think you will, because, my good little boy, I didn't just steal the ore..."

Again, Chang's cameraman swung away from the maniac, to focus on four cylindrical glass tanks. Three of the tanks were occupied... by his friends! Beast Boy was in the first tank, Starfire in the second and Cyborg in the third. Robin cursed loudly to himself, likely the only reason that Hibiki wasn't there, was because he had managed to get himself lost again.

Chang's voice continued from off the tiny screen. "...I stole your friends. Stay out of this... or I'll test my cannon on them!" Then, without another word, but with a massive grin sprawled across his face, Professor Chang cut off the communication, leaving only a dead, black screen before him.

Robin cursed himself again, for the... damn, he'd lost count of how many times he had cursed himself that night. That couldn't be a good sign, not at all.

Eventually, he managed to work the electrical pulses out of his system and regain control of his agonized muscles. Unfortunately, the process took several minutes, and he just knew that the lackeys would be long gone by the time he started to chase them.

So instead, he turned to regard Red X. The young woman was on her knees now, finally beginning to breath normally again. She stared at him, still clutching her chest protectively. "Who... who were those men...?" she asked in a pained voice.

He glared down at her. "Criminals, just like you," he uttered seriously.

Her head snapped up at that, and she stared at him with wide eyes. "I am **not** a criminal! I... I didn't mean for things to go this far... it's all gotten so confusing," she muttered, an oddly sad note in her voice.

His serious glare softened somewhat, though he wasn't sure why. "Not a criminal? Then how do you explain all of this? You **stole** that suit, you broke into a top-secret facility, then you were **about** to **steal** a dangerous and unstable compound." He shrugged casually. "If it looks like a thief, and it acts like a thief, then the logical conclusion to draw would be: thief."

" **I am not a thief**!" Her desperate denial sent him back several inches in shock.

"...I'm not a thief...," she repeated, as she started hugging herself and rocking gently from side to side.

Robin could only stare at the girl, total confusion on his features. What was going on here? This wasn't like any of his other encounters with the brash and confident girl he had dealt with earlier. Something very strange was struggling to gain his attention at the very hind end of his mind, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"You – you're not Nabiki... are you?" he asked curiously.

He wasn't sure if she registered his question or not, as she just continued to rock back and forth in a most worrying fashion. "I – I didn't mean to steal anything... I just... just needed this suit, needed the Xenothium. I needed them so **badly** that I just took them...," she muttered to herself quietly.

Slowly, he moved forward and knelt before the girl. Then he rested a calming hand on her shoulder and stared into her eyes. "Who are you?" he asked soothingly.

Red X looked up at him then, and giggled, though a bit sadly. "Isn't it a bit silly to ask a person wearing a mask who they are? I – I can't tell you, Robin, not yet..."

For some reason – for some reason, her answer placated his burning curiosity. He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "Red X, my friends have been captured by that mad man and he has enough Xenothium to disintegrate the entire city. Will you help me? Help me save the city? Help my save my friends?" he asked.

His companion stared at him for a long, long time, before she finally nodded in agreement. "I never wanted anyone to get hurt. It's my fault that Professor Chang has the Xenothium, it's my responsibility to stop him," she decreed finally.

Robin smiled widely at that, who knew that the mysterious and frustrating villain known as Red X had a sense of responsibility under all her sass and cocky dialogue. He stood up then and lowered a hand to help her up as well. She was just about to her feet –

A shout of pain, quickly followed by the sound of a body crashing into a wall, caused them to spin around. As one, the hero and villain ran to the entrance of the vault. They arrived just in time to dive to the sides, as the body of another hazmat suit wearing lackey went soaring through the air between them and into the vault.

There! At the far end of the room that had once housed the massive energy weapon a small fight was taking place. Strewn around the entrance to the corridor that led to the force field were five unconscious men and two of the stolen containment devices. Standing amidst the pummeled forms, his back to them and breathing heavily, was none other than Ryouga Hibiki!

Robin rapped a knuckle against his forehead. Either he was going to have to stop mentally berating the boy for getting lost or start doing it all the time! It seemed that every time he did it, the Lost Boy seemed to appear at just the right place at just the right time.

With a smile on his lips, Robin picked his way across the debris field, Red X by his side the whole way. A final leap later and he landed by the boy's side. He dropped a companionable hand on Ryouga's shoulder, more than happy to see the older boy.

"Hey, Ryouga, how did y-"

He gasped in shock, as did Red X, when Ryouga spun around to face him, an angry growl rising from the fighter's throat.

The entire left side of the martial artists face was covered by thick, red goo! A stream of the same adhesive material also ran down the older boy's shoulder to his stomach, before it suddenly cut off to the side. It was obvious that that had been exactly when Ryouga had started to dodge whatever attacker had caught him so.

As soon as Ryouga saw that it was him, the angry growl disappeared, and a relieved sigh escaped his lips.

"Ryouga, what happened to you?" asked Red X in a concerned voice from her position behind the fanged fighter.

The fighter spun around again, he hadn't noticed Robin's companion until she had spoken up. As soon as he saw **her** though, his growl returned full force. Instantly, the boy's hand fired out and caught the girl around the throat. Her weight didn't even slow her, as he ran forward and slammed her into the wall behind her.

"I've got you, Nabiki! You'll have to do better than this to stop me!" barked out the teen angrily.

"Ryouga! Let her go!" Robin ordered quickly. Ryouga spun quickly, a questioning look on his features... his visible features anyway. "Ryouga... Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg have been captured; Red X is going to help us save them. That... and I'm pretty sure that isn't Nabiki in there."

Ryouga looked at him for a moment longer, digesting that piece of information. Slowly, he turned back to his captive, and stared at her intently with his uncovered eye. "Kodachi...?" he asked, very warily for some reason.

Rather than answer, Red X just shook her head in a negative. Ryouga scratched his head at that; then looked at her even more intently. "... Mr. Saotome?"

At that, Red X glared at the Lost Boy and bonked him across the back of the head. "Hibiki Ryouga, now you're just being silly! Let me go right now, we have to go save your friends," she ordered him.

Instantly, Ryouga released the girl and took a few steps back, smiling weakly. The Lost Boy then turned to face him and shrugged. "Well, my only other guess after that little rant would be my mother..."

Robin just rolled his eyes at that. "How the heck did you get past those lasers in the condition you're in, anyway?" he asked curiously.

Ryouga shrugged again. "Hey, if you two could make it through, it would obviously be even easier for someone of my skills to make it through," bragged the taller boy smugly.

Robin looked over to Red X, a look of skepticism on his face. The taller girl looked back and crossed her arms over her chest in a patronizing manner. She then looked back at the fanged boy. "Ryouga..."

Ryouga looked back at them both for several moments, before suddenly slumping over guiltily. "Okay, okay, I blew it up, are you happy now?" he replied in a surly voice. Rather than berate the boy, Robin just smiled.

"Yeah, that means we can get out of here that much faster," he explained. With that, he led the way down the corridor, led them to the rescue of their friends. Behind him, Ryouga hesitated for a moment.

"Um, I don't suppose you have any of that solvent on you... Robin?"

"… _Robin_...?"

* * *

Robin stared at the young man to his right and the young woman to his left. The three of them were perched carefully on the edge of the massive opening on the dome of Professor Chang's observatory. His cursory scan of the building’s interior revealed several things: the disintegrator cannon (now fully charged), his friends, Professor Chang, and probably a dozen or so henchmen armed with unusual weapons.

At the moment, Professor Chang was looming before the cylinder that contained Starfire. For some reason, though they all appeared to have been frozen, the Tamaranean's head was free of the ice. Of course, this only subjected her to the disturbing advances and rants of the deranged man before her. A low growl from his right drew his sympathy and he dropped a hand on the guy's shoulder.

Robin considered his resources and his enemies. There were three obvious objectives, and three rescuers, a most fortuitous occasion indeed. If they were in the Matrix, he was sure that some person or another would have droned on about how it was fate. First, was disabling the disintegrator cannon. Obviously Ryouga was not the best suited for that mission, so it would be either himself or Red X. Second was rescuing the frozen and trapped Titans down below. He dearly wanted to do that himself but found that as much as he wanted to trust Red X, he wasn't about to give her access to a death ray full of Xenothium either. The third and final objective was to disable all the guards below so that they could complete the first two objectives.

With a wicked smile, he squeezed Ryouga's shoulder. "The guards are yours, feel free to indulge yourself," he whispered conspiratorially. The feral smile that bloomed on Ryouga's lips exposed his lengthy canines for all the world to see.

Robin then turned to Red X. "With the suit you're the stealthiest, I need you to free the other Titans while Ryouga distracts the guards," he suggested very seriously. Luckily, the girl nodded immediately, not even putting up a slight argument. He looked back down at the disintegrator cannon, his target.

"The cannon is mine, luckily we got here before he could get in the driver's seat."

He then turned to face the bandanna clad fighter beside him.

"Ryouga... go."

* * *

Starfire stared angrily at the man before him. Even though she was frozen completely in place, she could still hear his deranged ranting as he danced around happily before her cylindrical prison.

"Tell me, pretty girl, have you ever seen something ripped apart, molecule by molecule?" asked the Madman, likely rhetorically. The man then slid away from her cell, sighing in contentment. "It's breathtaking."

Unable to contain her righteous fury, her eyes lit up with emerald energy. A small burst later, and her head was freed from her icy confines. Unfortunately, the rest of her body was not so fortunate. Despite, or possibly because of, her rather dire situation, she said the first thing that came to her mind.

"You are a bad man!"

Again, her eyes lit up with emerald energy. Then she unleashed her optical fury upon the cylinder which contained her. Despite her best effort, the twin beams of energy just bounced off the cylinder’s interior, doing no visible damage.

Apparently eager to mock her, Professor Chang leaned closer to her cell, cupping a hand to his ear as if he hadn't just heard her comment. "Oh, if you think I'm bad now, you're going to be really impressed once I finish with your city-and move on to you," he threatened menacingly.

Again, she replied by rote. "Your plans shall fail! Robin will-"

"-not be joining us," Professor Chang interrupted her. He then turned away from her, eyeing his cannon longingly. "Not with your lives on the line. Far too risky for a good boy like him."

"You will be surprised at the risks Robin will take," this time it was her voice that held the deep menace.

If he registered her threat, he did nothing to indicate it. Instead, he just walked towards his massive cannon, towards the long ladder that led to the controlling seat of the weapon. She continued to glare angrily at the man's back, desperately trying to think of something to shout to distract the man. If only she could distract him for another moment, perhaps Robin would arrive to save them. All she had to do was shout **something** – something like–

" **Shi Shi Houkodan**!"

What? Why on Tamaran would she shout tha-

Her train of thought was demolished, as an angrily glowing sphere depressive ki plummeted down from the ceiling and smashed heavily into a small cluster of three men. Instantly the blast exploded into an azure fountain, sending men and debris flying like so much chaff in the wind. It was quickly followed by the falling form of a terribly angry young martial artist.

Ryouga slammed into the ground like a meteor; the floor buckled wildly under him as metal panels warped and twisted and the stone beneath crumbled into gravel. A second later and the fanged boy nearly vanished into a blur of yellow, green, and red and flew into the nearest collection of henchmen.

Starfire winced at the scene of brutal violence that unfolded a moment after that. It was hardly even worth her describing, considering that the battle consisted of Ryouga Hibiki against a mere dozen poorly trained and ill-equipped underlings. Suffice it to say, the battle was so one sided that if ever she was going to feel sympathy for a band of vile criminals that had captured her and threatened disintegration upon both her, her friends, and her home... this would be that time.

Thankfully, her attention was drawn away from the borderline massacre, by the sound of Cyborg's startled gasp. She turned quickly; it was obvious that while Ryouga was distracting the guards, that Robin had snuck around to free them. She beamed a brilliant smile as she finally caught sight of her closest frie-

"Red X?" Cyborg gasped in shock. Her large teammate stared down in surprise at the black clad girl that had just freed him from his prison. Red X had apparently used some gadget or another to cut a large hole out of the cylinder; then used another to melt the ice around Cyborg.

Rather than hesitate, Cyborg reached down to catch the elusive villainess. "What the heck is a criminal like you doin helping us?"

Unfortunately, the cold was still slowing the boy down. Red X ducked back out of his reach easily, and then looked at him rather coyly. "Criminal? Me?"

Cyborg began to stagger out of the cylinder to catch her, when suddenly she shot forward and pressed her, rather generous... 'assets' to Cyborg's chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. The effect was instantaneous, as Cyborg suddenly froze up as if he had never been freed in the first place. The large boy's face instantly blushed furiously, and he began to stutter incoherently as Red X rose on her toes till their faces were nearly touching.

"The only crime here, cutie, is that we haven't gone out on a date yet," she whispered teasingly. After that, the villain giggled lightly and pressed a single finger to Cyborg's forehead. The hormone-stricken boy collapsed like a sack of Earth potatoes; Starfire rolled her eyes in disgust at the pitiful display.

A moment later, Red X was in front of her container, the girl's dangerous wrist blades extending once more and rotating rapidly into a deadly cutting tool. Several swift swipes and Starfire was free from her prison as well. However, before Red X freed her from the ice, she stared at her seriously.

"I'm on your side this time. Robin sent me to help you," explained the young woman.

"Where is Robin?" she asked desperately, not caring about anything else.

The cocky villainess just pointed over her shoulder with her thumb, to the controls of the disintegrator cannon. Starfire followed the girl's rather haphazard gesture, up the long ladder...

To the sight of Robin, casually sitting on the back of a hog-tied Professor Chang. The masked hero was happily watching Ryouga tear through the remainder of the henchmen. As if by fate, Robin chose that very moment to look back in her direction. The smile that bloomed on his face when he saw her being freed warmed her heart in a way that her icy prison could never cool.

Then the masked boy waved happily to her. A moment later, he pushed himself and his not-so-noble steed over the edge of the control seat some fifty feet above the ground. The evil professor screamed in terror, even as Robin rode his back down to the ground. The boy's manic smile only widened, as he pulled out his grappling hook and fired it into the ceiling far above.

They stopped roughly seven inches from the ground. Luckily for the criminal man, not that he deserved such fortune, he had already passed out from fright. Robin dropped the unresponsive man to the ground and made his way over to her. Thankfully, Red X had already freed her by that point and moved on to Beast Boy, so she moved forward to greet him.

"Are you alright, Star?" he asked in relief.

She nodded happily. "I am, friend Robin. You appear most jubilant at our timely rescue."

Robin nodded, casually ducking under the flying figure of a henchman. "Just glad that you're alright, Star. I was really worried about you," he admitted, a slight blush on his cheeks. It was soon mirrored by a matching rush of blood to her own cheeks.

The sound of a pair of hands dusting themselves off heralded the arrival of Ryouga. The young man, half covered in red goo for some reason, was patting his hands against each other, as he approached them. "Well, I have to say **that** was anticlimactic. Maybe we should have held off for a few more minutes so they could have used that big death ray thing on us too. I bet that would have made it more exciting," complained the unbelievable boy.

She let out a huff of displeasure, half at his flippant attitude and half at his interruption. Robin just laughed weakly in disbelief. A moment later, they were joined by Beast Boy and Cyborg, both finally recovered from their ordeals. It looked like one, big, happy reunion, when suddenly Robin turned to face the exit.

"Leaving so soon, Red X?" he asked in a loud voice.

The black clad girl stopped in her tracks, only several feet from the observatory’s clearly marked exit. She turned to regard them, settling into a relaxed stance, on hip jutted out alluringly and a hand resting on it.

"Well, you all looked so happy together, I would just **hate** to interrupt your victory dance. Don't worry though, I'll let myself out," she replied agreeably.

Robin just smiled confidently. "I don't think you're going to make it too far, not with a practically dead power core at any rate," he stated a bit smugly.

Red X nodded at that. "And you'd be right too, if it weren't for the fact that the first thing I did back at the depository was refill my belt! Now it's time for me to take my leave, goodbye Titans, we'll meet again!" With that, the spandex clad female ran forward and kicked open the door. A second later, and long before any of them could hope to do anything at all, she vanished into a black blur of motion out into the early morning light.

Starfire suddenly bit her knuckle in worry and turned to face her masked companion. She dreaded the imminent explosion of self doubt and recrimination that was going to be the result of Red X's escape...

Except that Robin was not frowning... why was Robin not frowning? He hardly looked upset at all, which did not make any sense to her at all! "Robin, are you well? The Red X has just escaped us, are you not terribly upset by that turn of events?" she asked in a concerned voice.

Robin turned to face her and shrugged lightly. "We'll get other chances to recover the suit, Star, don't you doubt that. And besides... I think it could have ended up in much worse hands, all things considered," replied the boy, making absolutely no sense to her whatsoever.

Rather than argue the point, though, she decided to take his explanation at face value. Instead, she just shrugged happily and latched onto the shorter boy's arm and started to drag him from the observatory. Ryouga and Beast Boy just looked to each other as she walked past and shrugged in total incomprehension. A moment later the rest of her friends joined her procession back to their home. Everyone except for Cyborg that is.

"Ya know something, guys...," muttered the boy, sounding somewhat confused.

"...I'm starting to think that wasn't Nabiki at all!"


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own Ranma, Titans or DC in general.

Enjoy if you will, Tolerate if you won't.

* * *

Red X smiled a brilliant smile, the snug material of her mask stretching and conforming to her lips in a nearly sensual manner. She was still flush with the exhilaration of her night's activities. Her mind kept replaying each second repeatedly, every moment of her break in, every movement of her battle with Robin, every instant of Chang's defeat. It had all been so... just so...

Words failed the young woman, as she continued her trek down the pitch-black tunnel. The complete darkness didn't bother her at all, though. Her suit was, obviously, equipped with both low light and infrared capabilities, so traipsing around in the darkness was as easy as traipsing around in the day. A small giggle escaped her lips at that thought. Four or five months ago, the very idea of doing this, walking down an abandoned and unlit tunnel in the heart of a bad neighborhood... she wouldn't have even considered it.

Of course – of course a lot had happened in those past months, more than she would have dreamed possible, really. There were a lot of things she never would have considered doing back then; battling a madman against the backdrop of a disintegration cannon disaster... well, that was just the tip of the iceberg. True, that was a bit of an extreme case; she was still enjoying even the simple pleasures of walking around the city after dark, of soaring through the air like a certain martial artist or two.

And it was all thanks to this wonderful, wonderful suit. Her next step flowed into a graceful pirouette, as she danced down the rough floor of the tunnel, only to pause suddenly several steps later. She raised her gloved hands before her face, studying them intently.

It was still somewhat troubling to think about what Robin had said, though. She wasn't a thief... was she? How could something like that even be possible? She had never even littered before, let alone broken an actual law. It wasn't like Robin was actually **using** the suit... it was just going to waste... Wasn't it? She'd had a good reason to take it as well, an exceptionally good reason indeed. Was it her fault if she happened to... to get a little overexcited when she went out on the town?

And she had fought Happosai! And she'd done really well, too! There were likely only a handful of people on the planet that could make the same claim. Even then, she'd never meant to keep the suit, really. She'd only meant to borrow it, just to help... but how could she have returned it after doing something like that? Could she have just given up the suit... all the power... all the excitement... just because Robin told her to?

She giggled again: obviously not! Now that she thought about it, it had been a good thing that she'd robbed that facility! After all, Professor Chang had been planning to steal the Xenothium himself for some time. If she hadn't done it, then **he** would have, and he likely would have made just a **terrible** mess of it. Guards likely would have gotten hurt, and then the Titans wouldn't have been right there to stop him either! Yes, yes, it made up for her little... acquisition; she hadn't taken very much anyway. That facility had had far too much on hand anyway, didn't they know how dangerous and unstable Xenothium was?

Suddenly a blush burned her cheeks, as another thought randomly surfaced. The image of Cyborg, fainting like... well, like Ryouga, when she had wrapped her arms around him. It had been so adorable... and so easy... so very easy. She remembered learning about taking advantage of males back at the academy, but it had seemed like a completely alien concept to her then. But... it had been so **easy.**

She had never really thought of herself as being attractive before, not really. Certainly, people had always told her what a pretty girl she was, or how lovely she was, but it had never been the same. She had never thought in terms of being **desirable** before. The thought that she could suddenly have boys wrapped around her fingers... She'd seen other people do it back home, and often as well. After all, many of the girls back home were very pretty, and many of the boys were oh, so shy, but it was never anything she had done.

Hmm, with just a few gestures she remembered seeing the other girls do from time to time, she could easily reduce Cyborg and Ryouga to gibbering wrecks... that would make it so much easier to beat the Titans the next time she fought them...

She shook her head harshly at that.

...Not that she ever planned on fighting the Titans again. That wasn't the reason that she'd sto... borrowed the suit, after all. Quite the opposite really. Just because it had been thrilling, and nerve wracking and utterly, deliciously terrifying when she had faced them down, all by herself... That wasn't any reason to keep fighting them, one would think quite the opposite... really.

With a confused sigh, she sat down, finally coming to the end of her long walk. Without a second thought, she flicked her wrist, casually letting a small X fly to the floor. As soon as the small letter hit the ground, it began to glow with a crimson glow, shedding a modest amount of light into the chamber around her.

As soon as the light came on, Red X looked up at her silent companion and smiled again.

"Hello, Terra. I hope you don't mind my coming to visit," she asked politely. Of course, her companion didn't respond, but then, that was a part of the young girl's charm. "I know I don't visit nearly as often as Ryouga, but do you think I could still ask you a favor?"

Again, Terra's silence spoke volumes. Red X smiled again, taking that silence as consent.

"Wonderful, I'm sure you won't mind keeping this little visit between the two of us, you know, just us girls?" She patted the stone girl's knee affectionately. "Thanks, Terra, that means a lot to me."

Finally, secure in her companion's confidentiality, Red X reached up...

And removed her mask.

* * *

Kasumi gasped for breath, as if she'd just broken the surface of an icy pool after a dive several seconds too long. She took several more long, shuddering breaths as she stared at the piece of material in her hand... before a rather harsh reality made itself known to her.

The young woman spat out a pained gasp and collapsed against Terra's leg, as the pain in her chest bloomed like a flower. For several moments, the gentle woman clutched her agonized torso, trying to fight down the pain. Eventually... eventually, her breathing slowed to a more normal pace and she slowly sat up once more.

With reluctant hesitance, Kasumi touched the release button at the neck of her suit and gingerly unzipped the front of the suit down to her navel. She flinched slightly at the sensation of the zipper running across her skin, then cringed as she opened the top of the suit to reveal the massive expanse of bruises that covered her breasts and the space between them. Not feeling up to zipping the suit back up, she just leaned back against Terra's leg once more, breathing as shallowly as possible.

What had she been thinking, fighting Robin? She was no fighter, not really. She might have learned some of the skills and techniques, but she had never actually _fought_ anyone before. It was hard to believe that she'd been lucky enough to avoid an injury like this so long. What if it had been Ryouga that had hit her... or heaven forbid if Cyborg had? The young homemaker held no illusions of her ability to survive something like that.

How had it come to this? How had everything gotten so confusing?

* * *

_For perhaps the first time in her life, Kasumi was completely frozen with fear. She could feel the Headmaster's claws hovering just over her neck, an uncomfortable energy trying desperately to consume her delicate skin with its hateful heat. The worst part was that she knew he would do it; he would kill her without hesitation if he felt the need. It was all she could do to keep her neck as still as possible, even as her hands trembled like leaves in the wind._

* * *

She felt hot tears spill down her cheeks as the terrible memory tore through her mind. The heart killing fear she had felt, the utter helplessness, the certain knowledge that she lived only at the whim of a psychopath...

* * *

_The tension in her chest became nearly painful as she watched all her loved ones close in around the Titans, preparing themselves to do what they felt needed to be done. All around the chamber, energies began to flare, pink, green, golden, black. She wanted to close her eyes, to squeeze them shut and block out the violence that seemed only moments away, but she just couldn't. In a matter of seconds, this room would be thrust into a brutal battle..._

_And it was all because of her!_

* * *

Kasumi spun around, wrapping her arms around Terra, more desperate for companionship in that moment then she had ever been before. The fear and helplessness had been horrible, but it had been nothing compared to knowing that her weakness had nearly forced her family, her friends... to kill each other...

Never again!

Her shoulders hitched painfully, and the pale stone of Terra's waist darkened under the gentle rain of her tears. It had been weeks ago that it had happened, and yet the memory of it still felt as fresh as a newly turned grave. It was several long minutes, like so many of the long, lonely nights she spent in the tower, that she allowed the bitter and shameful tears to flow.

Finally... finally the tears stopped, as they always did. She let out one last sniffle, before looking up in embarrassment.

"Oh, my! I'm so deeply sorry, Terra. This must be terribly embarrassing, having me crying on your shoulder when you hardly even know me. It was terribly rude of me to put you in such an uncomfortable position..." She trailed off at the absurdity of the situation.

Never again... That had been the single resounding ideal that had consumed her life since she had begun her life with the Titans. It wasn't like her life back in Nerima, where she was a player so minor that even the villains that wanted to hurt her family never noticed her. Here - here, the Headmaster had been kind enough to demonstrate, oh, so vividly, what the price of her weakness could be.

Her desire to help her new friends had been so great, that she hadn't even thought twice before hacking into their mainframe and searching for something – anything that could let her protect herself. Even now, she wasn't sure why she hadn't just approached the Titans, her new friends, and simply asked them for help. They obviously would have said yes and Cyborg, just as he boasted, could have created her something more suited to her and that wasn't a ticking time bomb...

And yet she hadn't... Even before she had known what she was doing, her nearly forgotten Hive Communicator had appeared in her hand in the dead of the night, as if by instinct. The encryptions that Cyborg had set up had seemed so simple to her, as if begging her to break them into kindling. She didn't know why that was either, Gizmo had always been terribly upset when she had broken his encryptions as well, but... it had all just been so easy.

It hadn't taken long to find out about the Red X suit. All the warnings and dangers of the suit were clearly stated in Robin's files. In fact, for just that reason she had nearly passed it by. She almost had... but she had found her eyes drawn to it. She couldn't explain it, the frightful skull face, the morbid black... it was all so repulsive; yet it had seemed so perfect. Almost as if the suit had chosen her, rather than the other way around.

Waiting for Titans to leave the Tower had been painfully easy. With her access to the main computer core, it had been so remarkably simple to disable all the security between her and the vault in the third subbasement. The vault itself hadn't been any more of a problem. Of course, she had been slightly worried when Ryouga had noticed that a Hive Communicator had been used in the decryption, but they had all jumped to the conclusion that Nabiki had done it. She still felt somewhat bad about implicating her sister, but she was sure that Nabiki would forgive her for that.

Of course, getting the suit had been the easy part. It had taken her days just to figure out how to work it properly, even with Robin's plans sitting right before her. Even now, she knew it would be a long time before she could claim to have any mastery over it at all... if she dared to continue using it.

Getting in and out of the Tower hadn't proved to be any trouble at all, especially with the suits abilities and several small alterations to the security system. On that note, when she arrived back at the tower, she would have to mask the Xenothium's presence from the scanners, but that would be simple as well-

She sat back down, cradling her face in her hands. She was doing it again! Contemplating how to keep this a secret, deepening the lie between her and her friends. Surely - surely if she just went to Robin now and admitted everything, he wouldn't be too mad. She **had** just helped to save their friends...

"No..."

The voice surprised her, especially since it was her own. She looked up, a searching look in her eyes, before she looked back at the mask in her hand. No... no, Robin would most assuredly be angry with her if she revealed this to him now. And if he took the suit away, then there would be no way for her to become adept enough to help them in the future.

That had been the most difficult step of all now that she thought about it. Making sure that no one realized that it had been her. It was something that had very nearly slipped her mind completely as well. It hadn't been until the very moment that she had been staring down at Happosai and Robin, that first fateful night, that it had struck her.

If so much as the murmur of 'Oh, my' had crossed her lips at that second, all would have been for naught. It had all tumbled down on her at that very moment. If she acted in any way like herself, Robin and Happosai would have realized who she was as easily as if she had cooked them a delicious dinner and served it to them in her favorite apron!

In that moment, inspiration had struck her... only it hadn't felt like inspiration. More like some – some _thing_ rising from the depths, breaking free of her subconscious, and shaking off the fetters of her morality as easily as a snake would shed its skin. In that instant, she had thought of what Nabiki would have said, what quip Jinx would have used, what body language Bumble Bee would have tried...

It had been terribly hard for her, to fight her natural instincts and adopt the mannerisms of her classmates. And it still confused her why she had immediately fallen back to those three people. There were literally dozens of women she could have emulated: Shampoo, Ukyou, Kodachi, Akane... _Good_ people, people that were still competent and dangerous without giving in to their dark sides. So why had she decided to play a villain instead?

It **had** been hard, perhaps the hardest thing she had ever done, lying to her friends, fighting with them, insulting, and infuriating them... Except that it had gotten easier each time that she put on the mask. Every night, every hour, the quips came more easily, the teasing manner, the reckless behavior. Every time she had removed the mask, including this time, she was still shocked at the choices she had consciously made.

She still could not believe that she had almost injured Raven! She had been so furious after she had escaped the Titans, furious at Raven. She remembered the thoughts that had run through her head at that moment. She had recalled telling the younger girl, time and time again, to stay out of the missions. It was for her own good, after all. For just a second, just a fraction of a second even, she remembered thinking, 'it would serve her right; show her that I was right'.

It had been that very moment that she had realized that there was something seriously wrong. That one, tiny thought, had been enough to snap her out of her dark mood completely.

Kasumi glared at the offensive piece of material in her hand once again. She needed to tell Robin what she was doing. It was obvious to her, thanks to Nabiki's explanation, exactly what the problem was. She had no idea why it was happening like this, or where it would lead her, but it was obvious that it couldn't be a good place, wherever it was.

With a sigh of disgust, she threw the mask off into the darkness...

Or at least she tried to... She looked down to her hand, still clutching the mask tightly, refusing to relinquish the artifact.

No, this was her problem... it would be rude of her to burden her friends with such a minor inconvenience. If she did tell them, it would only fill them with worry. She was certain that she would sort things out herself, eventually. Besides, if she told them, then they would take her-the, take the suit away. Then she wouldn't be able to help them, then she would be helpless again... then she would be weak again...

With a long sigh, she took a deep, painful breath and zipped the front of her suit up once more. She would have to be careful about using the suit in the future; hopefully, she wouldn't need it at all. However, if anyone ever endangered her new family as they had her true family, this time they would find the eldest sister to be not so helpless after all.

With one last breath, she slid the mask back on.

* * *

Red X shook her head, before smiling widely. Slowly, mindful of the dull ache in her chest, she stood up and patted Terra on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. "Thanks, Terra, you're definitely the best listener I've ever met... even if I didn't exactly say much," she muttered teasingly.

"Don't worry though, I'll give Ryouga a good kick in the butt to make sure he gets you out of here sometime this century," she continued. She then looked up, lost in her musings for a moment. "It _would_ be a good way to get Ryouga away from that overly-pretentious Raven girl. After all, we can't have Jinx coming back when she's finally ready, just to see that he's shacked up with another woman after all."

Her smile never faltering, she brushed her hand across the stone girl's waist, wiping away the tears that marred the smooth surface. She hated being weak like that, but it was hard to be strong all the time... Ranma and Ryouga were the strongest people she knew, and even they had to cry from time to time.

Still, it would be a good idea to lay low for awhile. She could use the recovery time and she didn't want to take any unnecessary risks that Robin might figure out who she was. Besides, she had made a fairly good showing of herself earlier that night, she deserved a bit of a break.

With a casual wave to her stone companion, Red X began to make her way up the long tunnel to the surface. After all...

She had to have breakfast ready before everyone woke up again.

* * *

The young man slumped over the bar, dwelling on the horrible mess that his life had become in the insultingly short span of a single week. He lifted the half empty glass before him and knocked back it's dark, burning contents in a single swallow. With a gruff bark, he ordered another from the purveyor of drinks behind the bar. The old man stared at him oddly for a moment, before shrugging and handing him another tall drink.

Right at that very moment, as he choked down the entire glass in a single draught, he bitterly tried to determine what was the greater defeat that had been dealt to him. Was it the fact that, after months of planning and an undisclosed amount of money which he had spent on the heist, that he found out that the item he had sought for so long had been missing...?

Or was it the bitter pill that his underage status wouldn't even let him get blind, stinking drunk over it! He ordered another Dr. Pepper and tossed the bendy straw away as soon as the drink appeared before him. It joined a pile of its fallen brethren on the floor to his side, a sticky mess which the cafe's waitress was probably waiting for him to leave before she cleaned up.

Oh, he hadn't given up right away, that went against his very nature as both a thief and as a professional thief. He had tracked the Titans every night since then, following them out on every call, every mission, no matter how small. He'd followed the Japanese girl to the market, he'd watched Cyborg cruise around the city for fun, he'd tailed Starfire on her trips to the mall, he'd delved to the depths of the cavern that the Japanese boy seemed to love so much.

And then he'd followed Robin on his hunt for that old geezer.

And he'd **seen** it! He'd seen the suit. It was the last place he had ever imagined it would be, draped across the incredible body of some fine woman like a second skin. As soon as that had happened, his initial excitement had returned and even increased, if possible.

But it wasn't to be! He'd done everything he could think of to track her: shadowing, witnesses, tracers attached from afar, but nothing seemed to work. Witnesses were never reliable as soon as Red X left their line of sight. The tracers stopped working as soon as they contacted to suit, likely a defense that Robin put in himself to avoid just that kind of thing. Shadowing her had proved useless as well. No matter how well he concealed himself, no matter how close he got, the suit’s powers always let her slip away!

And the one time, the **one time** that he had been **sure** that he'd had her, she'd literally vanished right before his eyes. As long as the suit had been in one place, it had been a simple plan to retrieve it. But now that it was being worn by someone that was doing everything in her power to avoid being followed or captured by the Titans... well, it seemed much less possible with every minute that passed.

The burning sensation of the Dr. Pepper sloshing down his throat did nothing to alleviate his pain.

But then... something odd happened...

He turned slightly to take in the young woman that had taken the stool directly beside his own. His first reaction, of course, was to boggle slightly at the girl's figure. The rather upscale blouse and skirt she wore, white and black respectively, only accentuated her taut and toned physique. However, as his gaze rose to her face, a feeling of fear and recognition began to settle in his stomach like a lead weight.

The girl had sharp, aristocratic features and her hair was held up high in a tight ponytail. He didn't pretend to know the girl's name, but he knew who she was. She was one of **them** , one of the girls that had come over from Japan, the very same group of girls that had revealed the secret entrance to him. The only thing that prevented him from bolting right then and there was the innate knowledge that there was just **no** way that she could possibly know who he was.

Of course, his innate knowledge was blown to heck, when the girl suddenly turned to face him, a superior smirk on her proud features. Suddenly, and in a normal speaking voice, as if the two of them were the only ones in the cafe, she spoke.

"You… are a thief."

He nearly spat a mouthful of Dr. Pepper right in the girl's face, right then and there! Instead, by sheer force of will, he kept the carbonated beverage within his mouth, even though it burned his sinuses and nearly forced its way down his windpipe. After an excruciating coughing fit, he finally calmed down enough to look her in the eye again.

If the girl was at all surprised or put out by his display, well, she didn't show it at all. He took a further moment to wipe his mouth on his sleeve, trying vainly to regain his composure as he stared at the enigmatic girl.

"That's a pretty harsh thing to say to someone you've never met before," he replied finally.

The girl nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving his. "Indeed, it would be. However, I have been observing you for several days now. Thus, I feel as if I already know you..."

"And you are a thief."

He was not so caught off guard this time, but he still sputtered angrily at her brazen declarations. He leaned in close to the girl, who failed to flinch or give even an inch at his rapid intrusion of her personal space and growled harshly.

"Would you **stop** saying that?"

That did get a reaction, unfortunately it was only a small widening in her superior smirk. "But it is true, is it not?" she asked politely, one of her eyebrows arching alluringly.

He glared around the room quickly, before he noticed that no one was really paying them any attention. Or that at the very least no one was taking them seriously at all. Still, he kept his voice low and slid closer to her on his stool.

"What if it is? You think that you can bring me in?" he muttered threateningly.

Suddenly, her face broke into a look of surprise that was so obviously manufactured, that he very nearly applauded. "Bring you in? Now why ever would I do that?" she asked innocently.

Then suddenly her shocked looked evaporated into a deadly serious gaze and she leaned in so closely that he could feel her breath on his cheek.

"After all, I spent _ever_ so much time following the Titans, just trying to find an enemy of theirs that seemed competent. At first, I thought that that Red X harlot would suit my needs, but she is obviously foolish and unprofessional," she whispered quietly into his ear.

That brought him up short, his accusing rant dying on his tongue. He could only stare at her, total incomprehension on his face.

"You see," she whispered, her voice turning to velvet. "My life bores me terribly, I have tried so many things to alleviate that boredom: my plants, my gymnastics, my dearest Ranma, but none of them have worked. But then I saw that Tendo-hussy's older sister in the academy. Oh, the **fun** she was having! She was playing with fire as if it were her god given right, and only her enemies were burned. I knew then, at that moment, that I wanted to play like that as well."

He was forced to lean back when the girl's soft lips nearly brushed against his earlobe. Not out of fear, but out of fear of what he might start thinking. He had no idea where this strange, alluring girl was going, but if he let himself get played like he knew she was trying to play him; he likely wouldn't care soon enough.

"So where do I come in?" he asked in the calmest voice he could muster in the face of this beautiful Nightshade.

The girl manufactured an innocent pout for just a moment, before leaning back into her own seat as well. She then matched his intense expression again. "I don't know if you are the Titan's enemy or not, but after watching you, I know that you are skilled. More so than any thug brained villain or common minded brawler, you are a professional. As such...I want you to join me, to teach me how to live truly above the law."

He stared at her in wonder... mostly wonder if she was totally insane or not. Still, she – _it_ , it was a tempting offer. Still, he loved to play hard to get. Finally feeling his confidence return, he leaned casually onto the counter and looked back at her, a smile growing on his lips.

"You want **me** to join **you**? Don't you have that backwards, cutie?"

The girl's superior smirk descended into an icy sneer at the nickname. Instantly, a small... wand… appeared in her hand, a length of ribbon wrapped down its length and on into her sleeve. Before he could even follow the movement that made it appear, the end of the stick was pressing rather precariously into his trachea. He swallowed nervously...

Whoever she was, she was _fast_!

"You will refer to me as Kodachi-sama, do you understand?" she asked, her voice sending chills down his spine, and not the good kind either.

He could only nod in response. An instant later, and the ribbon-stick was gone again. He refused to give her the satisfaction of rubbing his throat, so instead he just resumed his casual lean.

"Fine then, _Kodachi-sama_ , suppose I do join you? What's in it for me? I'm the professional here, I already know the ropes. How does saddling myself with a rookie like you benefit me at all? You don't seem like the type to be satisfied with a fifty-fifty split," he inquired, only slightly bitingly.

If anything, that only brought the superior smile back in full force. "You misunderstand my intentions, Mr. Thief. I have no interest in petty things such as ' _cutting into your share_ '. I am only interested in... enjoying myself," she trailed off a bit seductively.

"I am the heiress of the Kunou fortune, if you side with me, then you gain access to money, equipment, weapons, anything that might be useful in making our lives as _exciting_ as possible."

His eyes very nearly bugged out of his head at that! She **was** insane! His smile slowly widened. She was **his** kind of insane. She was the **perfect** partner, someone that wasn't even interested in the profit. She was a thrill seeker, an adrenaline junky, just like him. Even better, she was a gymnast, that could be useful in several vastly different ways. He nearly laughed, she'd give him anything he wanted, just so long as he could keep her from being bored? His smile widened until it very nearly hurt his face.

It was obvious that he was doing a poor job of concealing his excitement. Kodachi leaned in, a smoky look in her eyes. "So, what is your answer?" she purred invitingly.

"Heh, I think my answer if obvious," he replied smoothly.

The cultured and refined young woman smiled, leaning back in her seat. The look on her face seemed to remind him of a cat which had just cornered its first canary. But then, there were much, much worse cats to be caught by. "So then, my new friend. You know to call me Kodachi-sama, but what shall I call you?" she asked politely.

He winked then and ordered another pair of drinks.

"You can call me... Partner."


End file.
